E.T.A.
by medusa
Summary: the X5's are free and have reached maturity. Now, just when life has finally began to calm down, something has been spawned... (please don't let the length scare you off, :D you don't have to read it all in one go)
1. Pheromones

Disclaimer: you know how it goes, i don't own the characters that are on Dark Angel, yada yada yada  
Timeline: after blah blah woof woof and goes on a complete tangent from there.  
  
E.T.A.  
*****  
  
"Damn," Max whispered to herself as she fingered the newly ripped whole in her favorite leather jacket. The sun was just coming up as she got to the building and it had been a very long night indeed. Logan warned her not to go, and she knew she shouldn't have either, but she was itching for some action. It was that time of the year again, when her more feline aspects wanted to come out and play. What is a girl to do?  
  
'What else were you gonna do Max?' she thought to herself as she quietly wheeled her motorcycle into the living room, 'It was either that or stay at Logan's and...' She bit her lip at the thought.  
  
"Max." Without turning around she knew the origin of the hushed voice.  
  
"Zack, what's going down?" Max asked, guiding her ninja further into the corner. For no apparent reason she could feel blood rushing to her skin. Something strange was in the air tonight.  
  
"Max," his voice was right behind her now, and he had a strange tone, something more feral growled beneath. She could feel the heat radiating off her skin, overpowered only by the warmth that Zack seemed to be giving off as well. "Max...keep me away...I can't..." he turned her to face him and held her arms tight, nostrils flaring to inhale her scent. In the pit of her stomach, Max could feel a strange warmth that seemed to stem from some primal urge. He held her tighter his face only inches from her own, his breath hot on her cheek. But Logan...  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" With a quick shove Zack was off her.  
  
"Shit Max, get in the shower, lock the door, douse yourself, and your clothes."  
  
"What are you talking about? What's going on?"  
  
"Don't question my orders. Just go damn it!" Blue eyes ablaze, Zack looked like he could tear down the building with his bare hands. So Max found it in her best interests to take action first, ask questions later. Fifteen minutes later, hair, clothes and everything soaked to the bone Max cautiously stepped out of the washroom. Zack was sitting on the couch elbows on his knees, hands in his hair. "Alright you better tell me, what the fuck that was all about. You're trippin' out on me here guy."  
  
"Pheromones," was his simple answer and with that Max understood. Throughout all these years she had experienced these "heats" and they made her damn edgy. But never had she been in the presence of another Manticore prototype, especially not a male.  
  
"Sorry, I wasn't sure of your cycle. I wouldn't have come by if I'd known."  
  
"Something else the Manticore brains forgot to think about, I presume?"  
  
Zack stood up now, definitely back to his normal self. "They probably didn't consider it because, like most animals, it doesn't develop until maturity. Shit that was a strong one, I didn't hurt you did I?"  
  
"Naw. With that girly grip of yours?" she tried to joke around to shake off that weird encounter. She had never lost control like that before, if Logan wasn't on her mind she might have...she didn't want to go there.  
  
"Damn it, I can normally contain myself..."  
  
Feeling uncomfortable thinking about how this night could have gone, Max cut him off, "So you get these 'heats' too then?"  
  
"From what I gather it isn't really like that. All the time I was edgy, thinking military style is the only thing that keeps me sane sometimes. I started to notice it when I was with the other guys: Josh, Bryce, Damien ... We would just get on each others nerves, picking fights whenever we could. And then when I was around you girls, Brin, Lily, Kat ..." his voice trailed off. "That's why I'm here, Max. They got Kat. I couldn't do anything. She didn't want me to do anything."  
  
"Kat? They got Kat? Why didn't you just tell me where they were I would have helped. How could you keep them away from me?"  
  
"It's not that simple. She was developing the aging syndrome we saw Brin with. She chose life over freedom and it was her call. But she left me something. Something that I need your help with."  
  
What could she say to that? Zack, needing help? Showing weakness? This must be something major, but what could possibly get Zack like this?  
  
Without another word he stepped toward her bedroom.  
  
"What? Should I take another shower or something?" It was futile trying to lighten the mood with Zack around, but more so today. She joked around more for her sake then anything. But what could be in her room? She was just in there. All that was different was the secured window (he obsesses) and his jacket dropped on the floor by her bed. Maybe a code card to get into Manticore. Maybe they could free Brin and Kat and maybe more genetic experiments from Lydecker's control. The plans were already constructing themselves in her brain, hundreds of possibilities, thousands of actions to take, to predict, to compensate for.  
  
Before her thoughts could become delusions of grandeur Zack stepped back out cradling his jacket in his arms as though it might, at any moment, shatter. What Max saw far outreached anything her mind could have imagined. It was a baby. Zack was holding a baby, wrapped in his jacket. Its hair was a muddle of orange and black, like a tiger.  
  
"Zack..." she reached to stroke the baby's cheek. Its face was that of a typical infant, yet more. It had a more feline quality to it.  
  
"His name is Cole. He's Kat's son," he hesitated, letting Max hold the child as if he couldn't bare being anywhere near it. She took him up in her arms, a smile creeping to her face despite herself. Not only was this kid adorable, but it also gave her hope that she could one day have kids. It would be along way off, and a huge danger to her safety, but the thought of child raised with love always drifted through her mind. She would make sure that her kid grew up with the childhood that Manticore had robbed her. Her thoughts began to fill with images of her and Logan with a happy, safe, normal family and without her even knowing she began to hum a lullaby.  
  
But Zack's voice brought her crashing back to reality, "He's my son."  
  
Max choked on her own song. It was all she could do not to drop Cole. "Wha? Whe? How?..." She was taken so off guard she could barely spit out a proper question.  
  
"It was about a year ago, most of you were turning about eighteen. I went to check on Kat, I was just outside her window when I couldn't control myself. I didn't know what was happening to me, and she didn't know what was happening either, but we didn't stop ourselves. We should've. When we figured out she was pregnant it was a huge risk to everyone. I told her to take care of it..."   
  
"Abortion?" It hurt Max's newfound maternal instinct to hear him speak so casually of abortion.   
  
He continued as though she said nothing, "...but she refused. So I refused to associate with her and risk my own safety. I guess it was curiosity that sent me back, and when I got there..." he nodded his head toward the child.  
  
"Logan. Logan can take care of Cole. It could be the safest place for him."  
  
"Don't you think I would have brought him there if I thought it was safe? I brought him here Max, Logan can stay out of it."  
  
"What will I do with him?"  
  
Zack turned away, knowing he had no answer. This was the first time ever in his life where he didn't have a plan of execution, where he couldn't predict the outcome and because of this he was lost.  



	2. Escape and Evade

After a quick stop for some formula, they went to Logan's penthouse. Max played with Cole in the living room while Zack and Logan watched, discussing possibilities.  
  
"I don't know what to say..." Seems like Logan was at a loss as well. "I can find a home for him but don't think I could explain his," he paused to find the word, "heritage. And I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to take care of the kid. At the risk of sounding callous, we don't even know what he is. He is a second-generation Manticore child, and there is no telling what he will grow up to be. His hair is strange enough let alone the tiger stripe skin colorations on his back. He is developing skills at twice the rate any normal child would... The only feasible answer is for one of you to raise him."  
  
That answer was unacceptable to Zack. "Then there is no other option. Something like that was never meant to exist in this world, we will all be safer with it dead."  
  
Max overheard and was revolted, hugging cole closer to her chest as though the action would protect him from such hurtful words. "His name is Cole, and he has belongs here as much as we belong here, if not more so. I'll take care of him if you're just gonna eliminate him like he was endangering an objective."  
  
"He is endangering an objective. My objective," Zack stood to emphasize what authority he thought he commanded in their presence, "To keep all of you safe and free."  
  
"Cole isn't Vogelsang. He can't rat out on us or give away our position. He can't even speak yet."  
  
"Yet," Zack bit back, "And for now he will slow us down."  
  
"I'm willing to take that chance. Why aren't you? Has Lydecker completely stripped you of all humanity? Look at him. Look him in the eyes and say that again." Filled with defiance, Max stood and held the child up to Zack. Just as she expected, he would not look Cole in the eyes, instead aiming his piercing gaze at her.  
  
"He is a part of you whether you like it or not. Now look at him."  
  
Logan tried, and failed to break them up, "Max, Zack-"  
  
"Look at him! Tell me that you can give this child life and then just take it away. You know what, Zack? You don't have that right. If you think you do, you truly are your father's son. You turne dout to be the cold hearted killing machine we were all supposed to turn into. Papa would be so proud." She nearly gagged referring to Lydecker in such terms but she needed to get across that military façade to the human she caught a glimpse of at the cabin. "Now look him in the eyes. Look!"  
  
Tears began to brim in Zack's eyes, and slowly they crept to meet Cole's. So young, so wide, so innocent. No one dared break the silence as Zack looked upon Cole for the first time with the eyes of a father.   
  
With tentative hands, he reached out to hold what he and Kat created. Max gave up the child willingly, and left to the kitchen where Logan had quietly wheeled. Looking back she found Zack already settling down with his son on the couch.  
  
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Max asked Logan over her shoulder still watching as Cole laughed and clapped waiting for his father to do something of interest.  
  
"You guys have survived so much. He'll be fine."  
  
"You have to give him a place to stay. He has no where else that a baby would be safe."  
  
"My guest room is always open. He is welcome to stay if he'll accept the offer."  
  
"Always the gentleman." Max smiled at the thought of Zack and Logan trying to take care of a kid. "I better stay here as well. I don't think you guys will know how to handle yourselves with an infant." As if on cue Cole began to cry in the arms of an oddly helpless Zack.  
  
"I didn't do anything..."  
  
"It's called feeding time, Einstein," Max joked, moving to warm up a bottle.  
  
*****  
  
Things were settling down as much as they could, and it was getting late. It seemed the kid needed a lot of sleep as he fell asleep shortly after guzzling down three bottles of formula and hadn't awakened yet eight hours later. Since growth hormones are only released during sleep, this was probably how and why the child was developing at an abnormally fast rate. Max routinely took showers every two hours, whenever Zack would begin to smell the pheromones again. Logan had went off to record some Eyes Only Streaming Freedom Bulletins and when midnight rolled around, decided it was about time for the non-genetically enhanced killing machines to get some shut eye.  
  
"You know that kid is gonna have some problems. He doesn't need a barcode on the back of his neck to raise a few eyebrows," Logan pointed out as he folded back his bed sheets.  
  
"We'll deal with that later," Max said airily as she stared off into the distance.  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
Max quickly snapped back to reality, "Sorry, I was just thinking."  
  
Logan waited for more as he climbed into bed, ignoring Max's attempts to help. When Max showed no signs of continuing he prompted her, "Thinking about..."  
  
After he settled in, sitting up against the headboard, she sat down on the bed beside him. "Just about what this kid will turn into. He won't grow up in Manticore. But if you think about it he's still Manticore born. Do you know what I mean? Like, is this soldier stuff a part of me and Zack like this barcode," and almost unconsciously she reached up to her neck, "or will he grow up like a normal kid. But we all know he won't be normal…"  
  
"Max, you'll deal with it later," Logan quoted her back to herself, "Right now you have a little kid who needs someone to love and be loved by. That's all you can do and that's all you need to do."  
  
The right corner of Max's lips lifted in that half smile that drove Logan wild deep down inside. "Aww, geez that was so sweet. You should work for Hallmark."  
  
Logan smiled at the return of the Max that he knew, "Now get out of here, unlike you I need some rest."  
  
"You and your beauty sleep," she paused and smiled, "... night." And with that she left the room. It was so tempting, just to give him a small kiss goodnight, but they had already declared that that kiss was the result of some emotional turmoil and never meant anything. But that was wrong. It meant a lot. What she would give to just lie in his arms and he could take care of everything. For a moment, no matter how brief, she wouldn't have to be so strong.  
  
Only once before did she truly show her weak side to anyone, and that was Logan the night he invited her for dinner and her seizures began to act up. She never let Kendra or Original Cindy see her when she got her tremors. But with Logan it was different.  
  
*****  
  
She returned to the living room to find Zack lying on the couch, Cole all balled up and sound asleep on his chest. Zack was studying him quietly, rubbing the child's back, just watching him breath. The sight was so strange that Max just stood there and watched for a little while. This was Zack, whose brain would forever be stuck in soldier mode, who believed all feelings were phony sentimentalities that would get them killed. He had the answer to everything, the plan to be properly executed, efficiently and effectively. Yet there he lay, plans foiled by a baby.  
  
"Hey," Max came around and sat on the floor beside him. "How's he doing?"  
  
"He's sleeping fine, deep in r.e.m., sleep paralysis in effect..."  
  
"Whoa, ease up on the techy talk, you're makin' my brain hurt."  
  
"Max..." he hesitated "I don't know if you can understand but, that's my life. What else do I have? You live here, with your friends, with a life you have made for yourself. All of the others have done the same. But I can't do that. I can't stay still. I have to keep moving because we are always in enemy territory. I have to ensure our safety. But what am I gonna do now?"  
  
"I don't know." For once Max didn't have a smart-ass remark at the ready. She didn't know what she was feeling now, the pheromones were long gone. This tenderness, this willingness to show her his weaknesses. It struck something in Max she never thought to look for. And this confused her most of all.  
  
*****  
  
No one was around. Logan was in the other room, gathering information from the informant net. Max was off at Jam Pony. Zack was taking a shower. They all thought he was asleep. They all assumed that he would rest for the day as well. No one could have known what was going on in Cole's mind. But to Cole it was quite simple: he was in enemy territory...  
  
*****  
  
"Original Cindy wouldn't be kiddin' you. I'm tellin' you, that sweet thang, all innocent and whatever, had it bad for me." Original Cindy finished her story with flourish, but her friends had their doubts. As usual the Jam Pony crew had more important things to do then deliver packages.  
  
"No way, you're trying to tell me that with one glance you turned her into a lesbian?" Sketchy waved off her story, "See now I would believe you if she wasn't checking me out all night."  
  
"Ugh, right," O.C. rolled her eyes, "The only thing to check out on you is that goofy look you got all up in your face."  
  
Sketchy furrowed his brows, confused yet hurt.  
  
"Yeah that's the one. No mistakes, that baby got back and it's all mine. You just wait. She'll seek out the Original Cindy."  
  
Sketchy turned to the others, looking for support, "Come on Max, help me out here. I'm sexy right?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah sure Sketchy." Max wasn't really paying attention, she had other things on her mind, but Sketchy took the triumph anyway.  
  
"Max. You can't be serious. Herbal, are you gonna be on Original Cindy's side?"  
  
Herbal smiled, "I know when I should step away. Besides, when somebody thinks Sketchy is hot, God be sending us a sign."  
  
"Yeah, and what's that?" Sketchy's ego was beginning to overcrowd the room.  
  
"The apocalypse is upon us." Herbal laughed, and Original Cindy joined in. Max still lazily gazed off into nowhere. After Sketchy's head was successfully deflated the guys went off to get more drinks and O.C. turned her attentions to Max.  
  
"What's wrong boo? You've been out of it all morning."  
  
Max snapped her attention back, "Ah nothing, I'm fine."  
  
"Come on, I know when something is wrong. Original Cindy is here to help."  
  
"It's just...There is this guy I knew a long time ago, and I thought I knew him. But he's changed now. And I don't know what to think about him."  
  
"Ah boy troubles. That's why Original Cindy doesn't bother with them but if this he were a she what I would do was..."  
  
A beeping went off in Max's ear, but she was slow to react. The past twelve hours had proved to be more mentally exhausting then she has ever experienced before.  
  
"Looks like your boyfriend be beeping you. Maybe he senses he should be getting jealous."  
  
Max stood and headed to the payphone, happy for the chance to hide her blush, "It isn't like that, why does everyone think it's like that?"  
  
When she thought Max was out of earshot O.C. murmured, "'Cause it is boo, it is," as the boys returned. 


	3. Deception

"Me be hittin ya ba-"  
  
"Max we have a problem." Logan cut her off, his voice urgent and serious, as if she were talking to Eyes Only.  
  
"I told ya, the diapers are-" Logan cut her off again, but what he said drew the blood from her face.  
  
"Cole's gone."  
  
"What do you mean gone?" she didn't like this frantic feeling creeping up her spine. What was that? Fear. Dread. So rarely did she feel these things she didn't know how to respond.  
  
"The kid left, I was working and Zack was taking a shower." He inhaled as if to calm himself down, "A window was opened a crack, and Zack found it wide open. Ironically the one you jumped out of. If that is how the kid got out, he landed fine. Zack left to go search already."  
  
"When?"  
  
"Five minutes ago."  
  
"I'll be there. Tap into the hover-drone videos, it'll take me two minutes." Her voice was grave and without even saying good-bye to her friends she left.  
  
*****  
  
He let out another slow breath, and turned off the speakerphone. What she didn't know was that he had been checking the hover drone videos while they were speaking. All he found was a quick fifteen second clip, and he reviewed it seemingly endlessly until Max finally came to his side.  
  
"Anything?" She seemed to have calmed down now.  
  
"Just this," He quickly typed something in, and the screen came alive with an exterior view of his penthouse. Nothing really caught the hover drone's attentions as its view swept quickly by. Logan had to freeze-frame it but Max's perceptions caught the slight movement in the corner of the screen. It moved like a cat, lazily jumping down two stories, extending its limbs and gracefully absorbing the impact. It stopped briefly to glance around, and only then with his human head turned toward the camera, could you tell that that was in fact Cole and not some stray tabby cat.  
  
"Which way did Zack go?"  
  
"North," was the only word he could get in before she bolted out door.  
  
They couldn't go to the police. Not only would it be hard to describe the situation but also Lydecker probably still had his claws in the Seattle police department. Who knows what information would find its way to his eyes. For two exhausting weeks there was nothing. Logan could find no clips from the endless reels of hover drones security logs, and Max and Zack were having about as much luck searching the broken streets of Seattle. Zack was so intense on his search that he would spend three days and nights systematically sweeping the streets, but to know avail. It was coming upon the third week when they just about ran out of hope.  
  
One weary night Zack was searching the perimeter of the city when a familiar voice sounded from behind. No, Zack thought to himself, it couldn't be…  
  
"Zack," the voice was confident and steady, but with an undertone of pleading. "Where is my son?"  
  
Zack didn't know if he was surprised or shocked. He had never experienced either before. "Kat?" he tried to keep his voice as steady as her own, "How did you get out of the compound? Lydecker's men…"  
  
"I'll explain it later. Just, please, I need to see my son." He could see her hand was shaking but the rest of her exterior was stone. What had Lydecker done to her in only three weeks? Of all the X-5's that survived the escape Kat was the kindest and had most of her humanity intact, easily shedding her Manticore military training for a normal life. Now she stood before her with the confidence of a marine. There was no way Lydecker could have reindoctrinate her in such a short time. They would have to crack her mentally first, and if she still retained a sliver of her previous training she would have been able to withstand 2 months of mental and physical torture. The separation from Cole must have affected her severely.  
  
Zack could find no other way to say it, "He's missing. He has been for three weeks now." Her toughened exterior shattered at the news and she fell to her knees. Zack knelt down beside her, trying what he could to comfort her, but failing at it miserably. She rocked back and forth, her face in her hands, her trembling shoulders the only clue to the sobs that she hid.  
  
"Kat, Max and I have been searching, with you here as well we will find him."  
  
"Max. I knew you would bring him to Seattle. Any chance to see your precious Max." Her eyes shined with hatred. Whether it was aimed at himself or Max, he did not know, but he was dumbfounded by the words. "I'm sorry, Zack, I didn't mean that, It's just…" she tried to take her words back as quickly as she had spit them out. The stress she must have been under, he could not blame her for snapping at anything, though her particular comment caught him off guard. He shrugged it off prioritizing his concerns. At the moment Kat was at the top of the list. With an uncommon show of affection he knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. It was a simple gesture, but it was enough. The strength in his arms comforted Kat, as though his presence alone would ward off everything that may harm her. He did not speak a word, and she did not break the silence for what may have been an eternity.  
  
"How is Max? I haven't seen her in so long."  
  
"She's fine, I'll take you to her."  
  
"You'll take me to her?" her words were slow and deliberate as if she was trying to clarify each word.  
  
"Yeah. Come on."  
  
"Where will we meet her?"  
  
"What does it matter? I'll take you there." Something was definitely wrong here. "Is there something wrong Kat?"  
  
"No. Why would you think that?"  
  
"Come," was all he said. And she followed in silence.  
  
*****  
  
It seemed as though no one had touched the apartment Zack rented out a few weeks ago. Luckily for him since this is where he brought Kat. With her at Manticore there is no telling what tracking or listening devices Lydecker may have implanted. The chances of her being brainwashed again in such a short time were improbable. But something was definitely wrong.  
  
"So tell me how you escaped," Zack questioned before he downed some tryptophan.  
  
"You won't believe me," she warned but continued anyway, "There is a vent that leads to the exterior of the building., I was barely able to fit through, and they tried to flush me out by turning the furnaces on full, but I eventually found my way. I waited just inside the outer grate, when the guard got lazy I bolted."  
  
"What did they do to you?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," she turned rigid.  
  
Zack's mind filled with liquid hatred for the man. Max convinced him to let Lydecker live but this…this was unforgivable. This is what was probably happening to Brin at this very moment. No, Zack wouldn't shoot Lydecker dead, that was too good for him, too quick a death. He could still hear Lydecker's voice: "Are you still so filled with hate Zack?" Well he was, and he welcomed the familiar feeling, oddly comforting amongst all this turmoil.  
  
"Stay here, there's a payphone outside," he said, heading out the door.  
  
*****  
  
He looked up to find Kat staring at him through the window. She stood perfectly still and her face was devoid of any expressions. Zack refused to believe she had been broken, but why was she acting like this? One moment hysterical with hatred or grief or some other emotion, then the next she would show no signs of humanity at all. What had happened at Manticore? Sadly with this knowledge he couldn't trust her completely. He turned his back to her so she couldn't see the numbers he was dialing. A scant minute later she called back.  
  
"Who's this," Max questioned without saying hello.  
  
"It's me, listen you have to come to MY apartment."  
  
"Your apartment?"  
  
"Kat escaped, she's here with me."  
  
"I'll be right there," she could not help but let her happiness and relief weave into her words. Zack could almost hear her smile. Truly he wished that his suspicions were unfounded, and that Kat was the Kat that had escaped and not the one sent out on a mission from Lydecker.  
  
*****  
  
The minutes were awkward between Kat and Zack so he filled the time explaining what had happened, where they had searched, and anything else he could think of to sooth her concerns for her missing son. She was itching to go search but she knew alone she could do nothing. Only when they were together could they do an efficient systematic search throughout all of Seattle. Finally, Max burst through the unlocked door.  
  
"Kat?" Max's eyes filled with tears of joy, invoking a similar reaction from Kat. They hugged and released and hugged again, as any sisters would have after such a long separation.  
  
"I missed you so much," was all Kat could sputter out as she wiped her tears away with the heel of her hand.  
  
Max looked at her, not caring about her tears, "I've searched for you for so long. And not look at me, I don't even know what to say."  
  
"Don't say anything, I feel the same way, just help me find my son. I need to hold him. I miss him so much." She burst into tears again, rubbing her hands together as if to wash off the guilt of having left him in the first place. It was Zack now who hugged and comforted her, tucking her head under his chin and stroking her hair, then rubbing her back. He placed one hand on each side of her face and pulled her away just enough to look her in the eyes to see if she was still crying. Imperceptible to the normal human eye, Max caught the brief widening of his eyes as he did this last act. It was as though he had just discovered something or confirmed something to himself.  
  
Zack pulled her close again, letting her cry and he hoped he could do this quickly enough so that Max couldn't react to stop him, and Kat in her emotional stupor wouldn't realize what was happening before it was too late.  
  
He leaned in closer to her ear, and softly, in the most soothing voice he could muster, whispered, "Stay here the night, I think you may actually need some rest." After a quick pause he whispered more quietly, "I'm sorry." In one quick motion he reached over at the table and grabbed his switchblade and slashed Kat behind her ear. His incision, though so quickly made, had the precision of an expert surgeon. And as he had guessed Max couldn't react, and Kat never saw it coming. It was mayhem after that. Kat screamed from both fear and pain, and Max stood frozen, unsure of what had just happen, unsure of how to react, unsure anything at all. Blood trickled into Kat's hair and down Zack's arm as he still gripped Kat's head. Finally he let go and Kat stumbled backwards. Between his forefinger and thumb he held up a small microchip.  



	4. The Search

"You could have warned us you know." Staring out the window of the car they had just stolen, Max quickly scanned for any signs of Cole.  
  
"How was I supposed to know she wouldn't have fought me off and reported us to Lydecker? It was the only way I could do it without the possibility of resistance."  
  
The argument made sense, but Max didn't want to admit it, "you could have warned me about it then."  
  
"Max, what's done is done, let's just get her to Logan's, so Bling can stitch her up." He glanced quickly into the backseat where Kat lay. Despite how they felt sometimes all of them needed sleep eventually. During sleep was when the body worked rapidly on repairing itself.  
  
"You don't know how much that scared me Zack."  
  
"What?"  
  
"When you rose that knife up to her, I thought you were going to kill her. I froze."  
  
"I was counting on that."  
  
"Excuse me?" Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion.  
  
"You would have stopped me too."  
  
"Well," she hated how he was right, "Of course I ..."  
  
He finished the sentence for her, "You would have convinced us all that she had nothing planted on her and brought her to Logan's. All the while leading Lydecker right to what is seeming to be our only safe house left in this city short of hiding in the streets."  
  
Was that true? Would Max have let her emotions get in the way, compromising everyone's safety? It was not a calming thought.  
  
*****  
  
It was decided at first light of the next day that they would radiate out from Logan's apartment. Having to only comb a third of the city made the daunting task much easier. They checked all the shelters and hospices, orphanages and hospitals. Where could a baby have gone? Max let a scary thought creep into her mind. This child was wild, she witnessed how catlike he was in appearance and behavior, which meant it would be like searching for one stray cat in the alleyways and crowded streets. Any chance she got she made her way to the roof of a building and use her vision to scan the streets. The sun was barely touching the horizon when Max noticed something. It may have been grasping at air, but at this point they were desperate for anything that may lead to Cole.  
  
A man looked like he had been roughed up pretty badly, he had bruises all over his face claw marks scratched across his cheek. No, they definitely weren't claw marks since the scratches radiated out as opposed to being parallel. It was as though someone had placed their nails on his faced and then clenched their hand in a fist. The lengths of the gouges where not long enough to belong to a hooker, or any adult for that matter, and the bruises were too small to have been caused by an adults fist. So what if it had nothing to do with Cole? It was suspicious, and after weeks of fruitless searches, Max had to just go and do something. She easily jumped down from the four-story building and walked through the crowd until she was just in front of the guy. She slowed and then turned around, gesturing for the guy to follow her into the alley. Worked like a charm, he followed her into the alley like a puppy on a string.  
  
"Hey big boy," she said when they were well into the empty alley.  
  
"A hooker picking up a john, never heard of that one before, but hey I'm open-minded, I'll go with it."  
  
"Where'd you get the bruises?" she kept a smile on her face, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Well, yah see, I like it rough..."  
  
"Shut up you sick pervert," she didn't want to play anymore, dropped the coy look and used her forearm to push him into the wall.  
  
"Yeah, just like tha-"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"What are you gonna do about it? You tie me up? Slap me around?"  
  
"Naw, I think I'll just..." Without finishing her own sentence she kneed him in the groin. "Ooops," the innocent look returned to her face, "Looks like you won't be getting any."  
  
"Fu..." he tried to keel over but she had him pinned to the wall.  
  
"Now tell me how you got all this shit on your face."  
  
He squeezed the words through clenched teeth, "Some guys... mugged me..."  
  
She focused her hearing onto his heartbeat and the slight variations tipped off he was lying.  
  
"Not good enough," she said shaking her head, "Now am I gonna have to do that again? I don't want to, it kinda hurt my knee." She pouted but readied her leg.  
  
"Okay, okay ... some guy kicked my ass cuz I tried to mug him." His heartbeat was still irregular.  
  
"Nope, not buying that one either. Strike two."  
  
"What do you want from me? I have cash, it's in my back pocket."  
  
"I don't want your money and I really don't want to touch your ass. I'm just girl asking some questions. Why don't you help me out."  
  
"I got into a fight with these guys at the bar..." Not wanting to waste her time listening to his lie, she kneed him again.  
  
"Sh..." Tears welled up in his eyes.  
  
"Damn, I forgot to warn you."  
  
"This little kid beat me up alright. Is that good enough for you?" His heart rate was steady. Little kid?  
  
"How little?" She backed away letting him fall to his knees, he wasn't going anywhere.  
  
"I don't know, two or three years," It seemed the pain overrode his embarrassment of the situation and he was now quite willing to tell the truth.  
  
"What did he look like?"  
  
"Black hair...I think some orange"  
  
That was all Max had to hear but it was impossible for her to believe. Could Cole have grown that fast? Though she tried to rationalize she couldn't shake the feeling that this was Cole. Maybe as a child he had super accelerated growth like how some animals take only two years to reach adult size. "Where did this happen?"  
  
"South Market."  
  
"Shit South Market." Having all the information she needed she walked away, "Did you hear all that guys?"  
  
"Everything. It's worth checking out. I can be at south market street in ten minutes." Zack's voice sounded in her ear. Logan had supplied him with two-way radios the size of a bean, which fit snuggly in their ears.  
  
"Where is that?" The sound of Kat's voice gave away that she was already running. Zack gave her the directions and they were all on their way to South Market.  
  
*****  
  
Max got their first, "Logan, you there?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Any luck with the hover drone videos in the South Market sector?"  
  
"A coupla people are walking around with bruises and scratches all over their faces. It appears they are coming out of an alleyway between that abandoned candy factory and the New Market Center."  
  
"I'm there. Zack, Kat you got that?" Max followed his instructions, and found herself in an alleyway cluttered with debris. A larger pile of cardboard drew attention. She could sense movement beneath the pile that could have easily sheltered a young toddler. "Zack, what's your position?"  
  
"Entering South market on the East side."  
  
"Kat?"  
  
"South Market North Gate in sight."  
  
Satisfied with their position, she pressed on toward the pile. "Suspicious location in sight. Suggestions on actions?"  
  
"Wait. I'm almost there."  
  
"Confirmed." She stood there, staring at the pile. Two minutes passed and finally Zack could be seen at the other end of the alleyway. Max made a few quick motions with her hands signaling to Zack that the kid was probably underneath the cardboard. Nodding his head, he turned his attention to the pile. Thinking for a few seconds he signaled her back, informing her that he was going to approach and for her to be ready to grab the kid if he ran. She nodded a confirmation.  
  
He approached so slowly he didn't make a noise audible to the normal human. But the child no doubt heard him coming as Max, focusing her ears, could hear him rustling underneath. Zack was within arms length of the cardboard now. As he reached to lift the top piece, most likely the ceiling of this makeshift shanty, the piece seemed to explode out toward him. He couldn't yell before the tiger child jumped at him. Already off balance, Zack fell back hard, the child on his chest looking at Max, his next target. Luckily Max had more time to compose herself and caught the child in mid air, as he leapt from the crouching position ten feet from Zack's chest to Max.  
  
Holding him at arms length, the boy kept swiping at her face, since scratching her arms had little effect but leaving marks on her leather jacket. The child growled low in his throat, and sneered and hissed when he realized she was to far out of reach.  
  
"Max?! What's going on? Zack? Is it him?"  
  
Zack was standing now, not knowing how to approach the flailing child, "Yeah, it's him but.."  
  
"But what?" The urgency in Kat's voice intensified.  
  
"He's the size of a three year old."  
  
"Lydecker was right." She gasped, and broke out into an all out sprint.  
  
The child rested his arms analyzing his situation and then without warning swung his leg up and kicked Max's inner elbow. It was a well-placed blow that caused a shock of pain in her arm, and her elbow to involuntarily bend. Now within reach he grabbed her head and turned her right ear toward him. He put his ear to hers and listened. Kat's voice, he had heard Kat's voice in the two-way radio.  
  
Zack, figured it out first, "Kat talk to your son, he can hear you, calm him down."  
  
Cole's head jerked away at the sound of Zack's voice but pressed again to Max's ear as Kat's voice streamed through. Finally the Kat came to the alley, she could not help but cry as she gathered her son up in her arms. Cole went willingly to his mother, the mother son bond still strong despite the weeks of separation. Finally, Cole feeling safe in his mother's arms, they found their way back to Logan's apartment.  



	5. Alpha-male

When they arrived Logan informed them about what they had all been waiting to hear. There was no mistake, military convoys sent to the city have increased 50 fold. Lydecker was in town. No one was shocked, but after these three exhausting weeks the news was not welcome.  
  
Logan had a dinner ready for them, Kat ate ravenously, as though it was her first meal in all the weeks she was gone. Cole ate enough to rival the portions Zack had on his plate. Throughout the meal Kat revealed what exactly happened to her at Manticore. The first week she spent strapped to a bed, isolated except for a window where, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lydecker discussing with doctors and scientists. In that week her strength recovered slowly, but eventually she was in her prime again.  
  
She was then placed in a barren metallic room, the incessant chatter of military instructions ran day and night. The only break from the endless commands was when once a day, Lydecker stepped into the room with four children who apparently were of the new X-6 group. They held her down as Lydecker questioned her and any unsatisfactory answer lead to a beating, which she quickly learned she wanted to avoid. The X-6's were still young but were definitely a force to be reckoned with. He told her that her son was in danger, that his genes were unstable because of all the splicing that took place in his parents. Lydecker went so far as to show her what cross breeding between earlier groups had produced, freak children who looked only slightly different at first, but grew to become hideously deformed or irrepressibly feral.  
  
Soon because of her cooperation they moved her into an area that looked more like living quarters. All the while keeping her alone, except for the questionings. She was tested on agility, strength, knowledge, and they seemed satisfied with what they saw. Then they began the reindoctrination. Every morning the X-6's would come in grab her, taking her to a room and strapping her to a vertical wall. They placed contraptions on her face to keep her eyes open and proceeded to play movies which flashed words and scenes in front of her. They would leave her there for hours and hours, take her down and let her sleep. And then it would begin all over again. After that she had escaped just as she had explained earlier. They all sat and listened in silence except for Cole who had left the table to chase after something or other.  
  
After she got it all out she smiled, "It is good to get that out of my head."  
  
"He will die for this, I promise you Kat," Zack said.  
  
She smiled at his concern, "If you get the chance. But don't go into Manticore guns a blazing for me. You are too important to us all. You keep us safe. What would we do without you?" Kat's smile soothed some of his anger, but not all, so she continued, "What would Cole do without you? Come here Cole." Cole came at her beckon, and she pulled him up onto her lap. "Cole, say hello to Zack. He is your friend. That is Max, and this is Logan. They are your friends, too. You are safe here."  
  
Cole looked at all of them with wide eyes and a pudgy hand made it's way to his mouth. Then he smiled, clapped his hands, jumped down from Kat's lap and went up to Zack. Taking them all by surprised, a word left Cole's mouth, "Dada."  
  
But what seemed to shock everyone else more was the fact that Zack's anger vanished and he smiled down at his son, sweeping him up into his arms. "Later," he spoke to Kat as he smiled at Cole, "But it will happen. He will die, and it will be by my hand." Then he took Cole and went into the other room, all the while pointing things out and saying their name, Cole laughing as he attempted to wrap his mouth around the funny words. Max smiled at the scene but turned to find Kat with a sorrowful look on her face.  
  
*****  
  
Logan wheeled up to Max who sat at the kitchen table, "How was it out there?"  
  
"Easier with your help. Thanks," she turned to him a smiled.  
  
"Just doing my part. I'm pretty quick with the computers," he joked.  
  
"What do you think is going on in Kat's head right now? You heard what happened to her."  
  
"Your training must have involved something about resisting brain washing. Right?"  
  
"I suppose... but the fact she had to go through that in the first place." A shudder ran up from the base of her spine to her shoulders.  
  
  
Logan moved closer and rested his hand on her leg, "Do you need your pills?"  
  
"No, it just makes me sick to think about it, about Brin. She hasn't escaped. The first thing she would have done was contact Zack. So if she's still there," Max let out a slow breath to calm herself, "If she's still there…I should have let her die. She didn't understand that she would go through that. And I left her to go through that."  
  
"Max, it's okay." His voice was warm and gentle, melting away Max's shivers. "It was her own choice." He reached up to wipe away a stray tear from Max's face. "You'll get her back one day."  
  
The simple gesture tugged the corner of her mouth up into that crooked little half smile.  
  
*****  
  
It was three in the morning, still pitch black, it was that rare time of night when even the busy streets had began to quiet down. Zack had left to get some fresh air, Logan was fast asleep, and Max was taking a quick catnap on the couch. This was her only chance. The doorknob of the guest room turned millimeter by millimeter, and eventually Kat stepped out, dressed in black, Cole asleep and strapped tightly to her back. Noiselessly, she made her way to the front door employing all the stealth she had mastered at Manticore. But even being genetically enhanced and Manticore trained, there were those who were better than her.  
  
"Kat you don't have to bring him back." Max was awake and only a few steps behind her.  
  
Kat cursed under her breath. "And how do you know what is best for my child?"  
  
"Anything is better than that place."  
  
"But he could die."  
  
"You're not sure of that."  
  
"You didn't see what I saw, Max." Their words were hushed but heated.  
  
"How do you know he will die? Lydecker could be lying, just to make sure that even if you did escape you would return and with your son no less."  
  
"You don't understand," Kat turned her back to her and proceeded to unlock the door.  
  
Max grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "Make me then, 'cause I'm not gonna let you leave."  
  
"Who knows if Lydecker is telling the truth or not. But I'm not willing to take that chance. Lydecker and his men are the only ones who will understand and help Cole. Do you think a hospital will take him in? And who's to say he won't continue to have the mentality of a predator? Soon he will grow up and no one knows if he can be contained. What if he goes on an animalistic rampage and the police shoot him down? Max, I don't want to wait until it's too late. If our genes are fucked up, what do you think his are like. He's an infant in a two-year-old body. You can't tell me that this is alright."  
  
"You can't just leave with him. Have you told Zack? You're not the only one who loves that kid. He is Cole's father."  
  
"And where was he when I was pregnant? Where was he when I had to give birth in my bathtub because I was so terrified the doctors would take my child away and experiment on him? Zack chose to cut himself off from me when I didn't want to get an abortion. He has no right to be this child's father."  
  
"He has changed. You saw him last night. So he made a mistake before. He loves Cole now. You can't take away the only thing that has given Zack back his humanity."  
  
"He has you, Max."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You are Zack's humanity."  
  
"You lost me."  
  
"Come on Max, put it together. Or have you pushed every memory of Manticore out of your head?"  
  
"I'm trying real hard to."  
  
"Not the training Max the experiences. Remember the balloon? That red one that you wanted? Zack didn't even hesitate to drop the mission and get you that balloon. Sure we were all confused as to what it was, but he got it for you."  
  
Max didn't know what to say so Kat continued.  
  
"He was always doing that," strangely she smiled as she began to recall the memories, "jeopardizing the mission for your sake. They punished him almost every time for endangering the objective, for failing the operation. Why do you think he came back to the compound later then the rest of us every night? They were commending him on his efforts? Debriefing him on the next operation? If it wasn't for our healing, he would probably be covered in bruises."  
  
Max was confused, "Lydecker would have eliminated him for showing such a weakness."  
  
"Zack was the best prototype Manticore had ever produced up to that date. He was genetically built to be our leader, strong in all ways. Zack knew Lydecker's limits and would stay out of trouble sometimes. But he knew Lydecker couldn't afford to lose him."  
  
Max held her tongue, which prompted Kat to continue. "Why do you think we escaped that one fateful night? Huh, Max? 'Cause Zack was all of a sudden sick of it all and wanted to get us all out? Well then why didn't he do that when Marcus fell to the floor in seizures?"  
  
Too many questions she couldn't answer and quite frankly she didn't want answered, but her voice would not come to her at her summons and she could do nothing as Kat continued to lay the truth on her.  
  
"He left to save you. That night you started to get your seizures, remember? That is what put him over the edge, and that is why we escaped. To save you." Kat paused, for dramatic effect perhaps, or maybe to let Max get her head together but Max was overwhelmed with this flood of information. In a softer voice Kat spoke more.  
  
"Come on, Max. From the very beginning he marked you as his own. Every action he made, every breath that he took was to protect you in any way. He may have respected and protected us as his team, his soldiers, but he loved you. Or at least felt whatever would pass for love at that god-forsaken place."  
  
Love? Max finally caught her voice, "I was his second in command..."  
  
But Kat cut her off again, "Like the alpha male to his matriarch. Don't try to kid yourself Max. It really isn't your style." Kat turned toward the door leaving Max to sort out the debris of the bombshell she had just dropped. Upon opening the door she found Zack reaching for the knob.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked as he took in the scene that lay before him. Kat was poised to leave with Cole strapped to her back. Behind them Max stood in a daze. "What's happening?" he pressed Kat when no one replied.  
  
"I thought I heard a noise so I was coming out to investigate."  
  
"With Cole?" Zack asked skeptically.  
  
"And what happened Last time you left him alone?" she asked back, and he ceased his questioning.  
  
"Max, you hear anything?"  
  
She tentatively looked up to meet his gaze, his eyes so blue that they tinted the space between them. His eyes were so intense she broke contact almost immediately and looked back down at the floor. "Yeah, but I think it was just a cat or something." How was she supposed to look at Zack knowing what she now did? Was it embarrassment that set her skin aflame or was it an acknowledgement that maybe all along she had known and that she possibly felt the same way. But now things were different for Max. She had Logan in her life. No matter how much she denied it to her friends and even to him these feeling for Logan always lingered.  
  
"I didn't see anything. You probably heard me as I came up."  
  
"Just a little paranoid I guess, with Lydecker in Seattle and all."  
  
"Good call," Zack said, "I'm gonna rest up. If we ever do meet up with Lydecker and his men we will be up for a good fight." He smiled at the thought, it had been too long since he had given someone, anyone a good beating.  
  
"I already rested. I need to go for a ride," Max grabbed her jacket and left, avoiding Zack's eyes and trying not to touch him as she squeezed past him through the door. 


	6. Innocent Eyes

When he saw the elevator close and begin to drop to the main level Zack set his piercing glare on Kat. "What was that?"  
  
"She needed to get out," she said sweetly turning back to her room. When he could not see her face she cursed her luck, she had just lost her chance to leave.  
  
"You know what I mean. Why did you tell her that?"  
  
"Tell her what?" She began to casually walk away.  
  
He spoke to her back making no effort to stop her, "Don't pull this with me Kat. I was at the door, I heard everything."  
  
His words slowed her steps, she hadn't meant for him to hear. It was her last ditch effort to get out and back to Manticore but she hadn't meant for it to get around to Zack. The last thing she wanted was to be on bad terms with him. He was, though she hated to admit it, the closest thing she had come to a true friend. Sure she had the friends she made the ten years they had been free but with him she was always safe. With him she did not fear that she would make a slip and reveal her true self, for he already knew. Now that this bond was threatened and her situation so extreme she felt no other course of action better then break all ties.  
  
"You had no right to tell her that."  
  
"Are you trying to protect her again? Being the bigger man and bowing out without letting her know your feelings."  
  
"You know nothing about me Kat, don't pretend to." He made no effort to hide the rage in his voice.  
  
"I know enough."  
  
"If that is what you think you know about me you're mistaken."  
  
"So you're denying it now?"  
  
"Emotions are a weakness. Why would I leave an opening for my enemies?"  
  
"'Cause you can't help yourself." Her words were so confident.  
  
"Max is nothing to me."  
  
Kat laughed, "If she means nothing then why are we having this conversation? Who's pretending now?"  
  
Silence filled the room, only to be broken by a much calmer Zack. "If you hate me for leaving you then take it up with me. But I will not have you making up stories and spreading lies behind my back."  
  
Having been braced for a furious lash of words, Kat's defenses were shattered by this unexpectedly quiet Zack. "I didn't mean to hurt you."  
  
"Then why would you tell her those things?"  
  
Kat hesitated. Maybe she could make Zack understand that returning to Manticore was the only course of action to take. If she could just convince him, she would be free to go and they would not come after her. "Max wouldn't let me leave."  
  
"Why would you leave? This is a secure lodging. We should lay low while Lydecker is in town."  
  
"I...I have to bring Cole back to Manticore."  
  
If he had been shocked he did not show it, his voice still smooth and calm, "Kat, you don't have to go."  
  
"I explained this to Max already," she couldn't hold back her tears of desperation any longer, "Lydecker promised me he would help Cole, that he would make him normal."  
  
"Kat." He reached for her arm but she twitched away, "Kat, you know what Lydecker will do. He will make our son normal on Manticore terms. You understand that right?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"They will experiment on him before they heal him." He stepped closer, but she stepped back and nodded her response again.  
  
"They will give him humanity just to take it away again. You would let them do that to our son?" His voice was still calm and composed and he advanced toward her again. A counter stopped her retreat and she cast her eyes down at the floor, not able to handle his sapphire gaze.  
  
"He will be alive and I will give him his humanity back. Zack, you cannot stop me. I am going back there."  
  
"If you know what you are getting into then I can't stop you, I can't watch you every minute to make sure you stay put. It is your choice to make and you have made it before. But know this before you go…" He lifted her chin so she would look him in the eyes, "How will you defend Cole's humanity when they strip you of your own?"  
  
No other words were spoken. She understood well enough and Zack thought he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes. His best efforts were for not as the maternal pull to keep her son alive had been too strong and she turned toward the door. Cole's dark, innocent eyes were the last things he saw and the image burned itself into his memory. Who knows how long it would be before he saw them again? Who knows under what circumstances this father will meet his son next.  
  
*****  
  
On any other night the ninja's power coursing below her would calm her nerves and the wind whipping her hair wildly about her would sooth her mind. But not this night. Too much had been laid on her, and her mind was racing from thought to thought faster then she raced through the broken streets of Seattle. Even now Logan's sweet voice betrayed her playing over and over again in her mind, 'He cares for you, you know, and not just like a sister.'  
  
How could she have been so naïve? Logan even saw it before her. For all her life she had thought of them as her brothers and sisters, created from each other working as a team. But living at Manticore, where all emotions were repressed… who knows what love was. Maybe she did love Zack. Maybe that was what she had felt all these years. Then what did she have with Logan? No, she loved Logan. He made her feel safe. But Zack made her feel safe, too. Then again when Zack was around she felt safe because of her confidence that they could get out of anything together. Like the time Lydecker imprisoned them when they tried to save Brin. She had no doubts they would survive. With Logan it was a more volatile safety. Max felt secure in the fact that maybe Logan couldn't save her the same way Zack could, but the world would fall away and he could save her from her hectic life. With Logan she was normal in the sense that she was human. But Zack cared for her and even sacrificed himself for her safety. With Zack she was normal in the sense that she was superhuman.  
  
Her brain was hurting from this effort. She could calculate the most complex equations in the blink of an eye, memorize pages and pages of operation files only reading them once, recall the tiniest facts that no one would bother to notice in the first place. All these things her mind could handle but thinking about Logan and Zack was an endless cycle that made her dizzy. She had to clear her mind, and she needed a familiar place to do it, home.  
  
It only took her a few minutes to get home and she quietly wheeled her ninja in. It was only about four in the morning and she could feel the sun threatening to break the horizon soon. The sudden feeling of déjà vu sent shivers up her spine and goose bumps to her skin. It was the same situation weeks earlier when Zack came to her window. She closed her eyes to try and clear the confusing memory out of her head, but it only served to clarify it.  
  
After a few calming breaths she decided to relax, she needed something to get her mind off things. Kendra. Kendra was always there to talk. Max had woken her up for late night talks before and Kendra always obliged. She was such a good friend, a shoulder to lean on.  
  
Max focused her ears toward Kendra's room to hear if Kendra was even there that night. There she heard Kendra's breathing, steady and slow, but that was not the only sound she heard. There was someone, some guy no doubt, in there with her, gladly not a threat as his breath gave away that he too was sleeping. Finally something pushed Logan and Zack out of her head. Curiosity. She crept toward Kendra's room to see this elusive Mr. Multiples for herself. She slowly pulled back the curtain that separated Kendra's room from the rest of her abode.  
  
"No," she gasped, this was not what she needed right now. Kat had just forced her to consider things that had torn the world she knew asunder. Now, the one man who haunted her thoughts and dreams had invaded her home. Lydecker, lay there with Kendra in his arms.  
  
Max shook her head not wanting to believe. Nothing looked the same to her anymore, and she couldn't take it. She went to the bathroom to get her tryptophan and downed a couple pills when she felt her hand begin to shake. Whether her hand shook from her seizures or from her life collapsing around her she did not know. But the familiar feel of the pills down her throat was the only real thing she could hold onto right now. But soon that would not be enough. Max quietly backed her ninja out of the apartment. The cool night breeze ran its fingers through her hair as she blazed down the streets to Logan's apartment, to the last sanctuary she knew of, into the arms of the one man who made who she knew would make her feel safe.  



	7. In the Arms of an Angel

His mind refused to come to full alertness, but he did remember hearing his name.  
  
"Logan," the voice was muffled but yes it was his name. He looked up to see a dark silhouette standing in his room.  
  
"Max?" he wasn't really sure if he actually said it aloud or it was only in his mind, but the shadow moved closer to him in response. Or maybe he just willed it to come closer. His mind was too hazy to be sure.  
  
Slowly his groggy mind began to clear and the silhouette before him became a human form. It looked Max, fully clothed, wearing a red tank top and jeans.. What was she doing here? Logan watched her as she stepped forward again and hesitated. He did not know what to say. The words, any words, did not come to his lips easily. This had to be a dream. Why else would she be in his room so late at night? It wasn't real. His mind refused to believe it was real.  
  
"Max?" he threw the question at the shadow, half of him hoping it would flutter away and not taunt him with its beauty, and the other half of him willing it to come closer still.  
  
Again in response it stepped closer and slowly, quietly made it's way to the side of his bed. He desperately tried to regain full consciousness, but he could do nothing to escape this state of limbo between the abyss of sleep and the reality of the world around him.  
  
"Hold me," her soft voice sounded more urgent as if she needed something only he could give. He would not hesitate to pull the stars down from the heavens for her, but she had never asked it of him.  
  
The cool air raised goose bumps on his skin as she lifted the covers of his bed and slid in beside him. "Don't change," she whispered softly into his ear then lay her head and hand down on his bare chest. He could feel her cheek was moist with tears and her hand was clammy and cold. It took all this efforts to will his arm to wrap around her and kiss the top of her head. The smell of her hair was intoxicating.   
  
As he lay his head back down he brought a word to his lips in response to her plea, "Never." That must have been what she had wanted to hear because her tense body turned to silk beside him and the warmth of her length pressed against his side was a comfort no words could describe. He didn't want to let this sweet night go and as he fought the encroaching oblivion that was sleep, he held her tight to him.  
  
*****  
  
Max quietly entered Logan's room and closed the door behind her. She didn't know what she was planning to do when she got here. At first she just stared at him, laying there perfectly still, a picture of peace. The peace she so desired. After a moment of taking in the calm, she stepped forward and whispered into the night, "Logan?"  
  
His head moved as if automatically toward her voice, but he was still asleep. His serene face was toward her now and as she studied every line of his chiseled features the world fell away. "Logan?" she asked again hoping he would waken and welcome her into his arms. Now his eyes opened lazily but she could see he was not yet fully awake.  
  
"Max?" Her heart nearly stopped. He recognized her. Now what was she gonna do? She couldn't just stand here and absorb the tranquility now that he knew she was here. Max had taken a step forward at his beckon, but caught she herself. What was she doing? Logan was probably still sleeping. He probably only said her name because he was responding in his dream to her voice. What did she think was gonna happen tonight. She should just leave, the streets could be her refuge, her ninja could be her savior. But as she rationalized the night away his voice called out to her again. "Max?"  
  
She could not stop herself, she needed him now, to enfold her in his pure embrace. "Hold me," she said as moved to the edge of bed. Slowly, still unsure, she lifted the covers and slid in between. "Don't change," she gently whispered into his ear, then lay down on his bare chest. Only after doing so did she realize her cheeks were streaked with tears. Logan's warmth was like a soothing fire on her skin drying her tears and evaporating her worries. Max felt him lift his head and kiss her, his arm holding her tight against his body, warding off all her anxieties.  
  
"Never," was his simple response, but it was all she needed to hear because she knew he would not break his word. Now she could relax, she could let herself go. Only in his arms was she free. Under her ear, his heart was pounding with a steady beat. To the rhythm of his heart, so constant and stable just like Logan himself, did she finally give into the dark embrace of sleep.  
  
*****  
  
Zack was eating breakfast and reading the newspaper when Bling came in at the crack of dawn for Logan's early morning work out. "Good morning Zack," he said as he put down the bag with all his gear and went to the closet to pull out the padded physio table.  
  
"Morning," he acknowledged Bling's presence and turned his attentions back to the newspaper.  
  
"Have you seen Logan?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Do you know where he is?"  
  
"Probably still sleeping."  
  
"Damn, he's slacking now? He's been improving so quickly with this new regiment."  
  
Zack stared at him blankly. The look on his face showed he was obviously not interested at all. "Whatever," he shrugged his shoulders and picked up the newspaper again.  
  
"Well, clock's tickin'," he said more to the empty room because he knew Zack wouldn't care. He took a few brisk steps to Logan's room. Zack heard Bling open the door and call out to Logan, "Let's go Logan. Rise and… Max?!"  
  
Zack straightened to attention, looking up at the direction of Logan's room, the source of Bling's startled voice. What was Max doing in Logan's room? Of all nights it had to be the one when Zack's true feelings had been strung out before her. It was a blow to his ego and he tried to repress the anger and jealousy. He had just lost his son and Kat to Manticore and now he was losing Max.  
  
Just then she burst out of the hallway in a brisk walk, her clothes still crumpled and her hair disheveled. He watched her come his way hoping that somehow, if she just looked him in the eyes, he could make her change her mind. That with one glance he could become the one into whose arms she would run for shelter. He had been waiting for it all this time, but now she had showed him it would never happen.  
  
When she finally lifted her head she seemed startled that he was watching her, and quickly cast her gaze onto the floor and sheepishly tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Had he not had superb vision he would not have noticed her slight blush. Now was one of those times he regretted his genes. Max's pace slowed to almost casual as she crossed the kitchen and opened the fridge. All the while she could feel his intense gaze upon her but she dare not face him for fear of losing herself in that endless loop of confusion. She had made her choice last night, there was no turning back now.  
  
Bling came back into the room wordlessly and continued to set up, a slight smile on his face. It was all Zack could do to not walk over there and smack that smirk off his face, and maybe beat him for good measure. But if he did that Max would surely never forgive him.  
  
"Morning," he said returning his attentions to the newspaper.  
  
"G'Morning." Her reply was timid as she drank her juice at the sink. Not because she was afraid she would spill but because it was only here, directly behind him when she would be safe from his eyes, his sapphire eyes. There was an awkward silence. 'How am I supposed to act around him now?' her mind was racing, 'he doesn't know what happened between Kat and me. But I know things now. How can I just act normal.'  
  
He could sense her body was tense from the awkward situation. But how was he supposed to act now? It didn't matter if he pretended that he didn't know what was happening. He thought it would give him some sort of tactical advantage, but there was no such thing when it came to emotions. All he could do was talk about something else. And he wasted no time bringing out the heavy arsenal.  
  
"Kat left with my son," his voice took on a military style seriousness, devoid of all emotions, to hide his true feelings no doubt. "She is headed back to Manticore."  
  
Max stood in front of him now shock and anger overriding her embarrassment, "You just let her go? I thought you of all people would make her stay."  
  
"What were my options, Max?" His cold, emotionless words stung like a slap across the face. Bling took this moment to step outside and get out of the line of fire. When those two got together one could drown in the tension.  
  
"She could have stayed with us..."  
  
"All in Seattle? Lydecker would find out and would give us no peace," he calmly rationalized away that suggestion.  
  
"Then you could have gone with her to Canada. You could have raised Cole there together."  
  
"What like a normal family? Dropping him off to school? Taking him to the vets to get rabies shots? Come on Max, really. Besides who would take my place? I have guarded you all from the beginning. Who would take my role?" He was on his two feet now, uncomfortable being in such an immobile position.  
  
She would not concede so easily, "I would."  
  
"Would you Max? Would you drop all your friends? Break off all connections to this place? Would you leave Seattle behind and not look back?" He knew the answer already, and she confirmed it with her silence. "Then you would be no good to any of the rest," he paused and took on a more tender tone, slowly approaching her. If she would not return his feelings, she would not have the chance to hate him either. "Mine is a cold and lonely life, Max. It's not for you and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else." This change of state somewhat calmed her fury, and she turned her back admitting defeat.  
  
The silence, again, became unbearable, but now it was Max who took the initiative. "Lydecker is in town."  
  
"I knew already."  
  
Max paused, and let out a breath, "I know where he is." Now it was Zack's who tensed as his mind filled with sadistic images. If Kat was going to return to Manticore, Lydecker would not get the pleasure.  



	8. Disappointment

Bling was idly examining the paintings that hung in the hallway when Max and Zack, all decked out in black, exited the apartment. Zack didn't give Bling a second glance, his face full of hatred. Max looked at Bling and smiled; still slightly embarrassed from that earlier meeting, but she did not explain what was going on. Probably something he didn't need to know about. All the better he didn't know. He had been exposed to some disturbing things working with Logan, but some of the things Manticore did were horrific.  
  
Causally Bling reentered the penthouse and headed straight for Logan's room. He knocked on the door, quietly at first, then gradually louder, waiting each time for a reply. When none came he opened the door. He shook his head in quasi-disgust as Logan still lay there peacefully sleeping and, if Bling was not mistaken, with a slight smile on his face.  
  
"Logan." Bling walked over to the blinds. "Get your ass out of bed, sleeping beauty."  
  
The unrelenting morning light assaulted Logan's eyes. "Ah," Logan said in pain, lifting his hand to clamp down on his eyes. His body then relaxed when he realized Bling would not give up, "Good morning, Bling. You sound chipper this morning."  
  
"As always."  
  
"You know, you should try to take into consideration that some people don't wake up with little happy bluebirds chirping on their bedposts."  
  
Bling smiled, "I'll take that as a compliment. You have twenty minutes to make yourself all pretty." With that last taunt he left.  
  
Logan lay there, for another moment, his hand still shielding his eyes. He didn't want this moment of truth to come. He turned his head to the side and slowly lifted his hand. It was just like he thought it would be, though he had wished that he was wrong. Max did not lie beside him, his bed still cold and lonely. It was all just a sweet, haunting dream.  
  
He lay there another moment then propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes still clenched. This was the time of the day he hated the most. Every morning he had to face the fact that his legs would never work. Small things he took for granted, like getting out of bed or taking a shower, now became monumental tasks that he never looked forward to.  
  
Some mornings he didn't want to deal with it any longer. Suicidal thoughts always brushed his mind during the first few moments of consciousness. Some days he pushed them aside to think about putting another corrupt cop behind bars or seeing Max that evening. Last night he thought maybe he could have something to live forward too. But as he looked about his empty room, the dark thoughts nearly overrun him. Nearly.  
  
He maneuvered his body to the side of his bed where his wheelchair awaited him. He slid into it, adjusting his legs, and rolled over to his dresser. After gathering his clothes and placing them on his lap he made his way to the washroom.  
  
They had redone the washroom to suit his needs. Extra handles were placed in various places to help him get about easier. Despite Bling's urgings Logan refused to change anything else in his apartment. Logan didn't want to show any weakness, he wanted to show anyone who entered his home that he nothing had truly changed. But here in the privacy of his own washroom he had to admit defeat.  
  
Logan took hold of a handle now, with one hand trying to take off his boxer briefs with the other. It was a struggle every time and when he finally pulled them off his limp legs he hurled them at the wall with all his strength. "Damn it," he cursed, his breath had quickened from the effort. He rubbed his face with his hands, then ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Calming himself down he wheeled to the shower and used more handles to pull his vulnerable body onto the plastic seat he had placed in the shower. He did not move, letting the water wash over him, dripping from his hair down his face, onto his immobile legs where he lost all sensation. He sat like that for a few minutes as if to wash away all the suicidal thoughts, closing his eyes to envision a world worth living for. But when he opened his eyes his legs were still there below him, immobile and useless. He ran a hand through his wet hair and faced up into the spray of the shower, letting the droplets of water cascade down on his face.  
  
The only thing to think about now was that dream he had last night. It had been so real he could have sworn that it was. But the emptiness that welcomed him that morning had been a true testament to what had really aspired. He remembered how solid she felt pressed against him, how her warmth along his side felt so natural, as though his life had never truly been normal until that moment. Logan shook his head, 'It was only a dream. Don't fool yourself.'  
  
He finished his shower, struggled with his clothes again, and went to the living room where Bling awaited him. He had hoped to see Max around, for any sign that his dream was true, but he was shot down again. The look on Logan's face told Bling to back off, which he did for the most part. They did the work out like any other day, Bling counting off the reps while spouting off encouraging remarks and visualizations that Logan never heeded. Every once in a while Logan would catch Bling out of the corner of his eyes, with a smile on his face and a "knowing" look on his face. In the middle of one of his reps he couldn't take it anymore.  
  
"...three, four..."  
  
"What is it?" Logan asked letting impatience seep into his words.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why do you keep smiling?"  
  
The grin returned to Bling's face, "I thought you would have told me by now."  
  
"You're going to have to clarify for me." Logan was getting really confused now.  
  
"Fine, if you don't want to tell me why I found Max in your room this morning, you don't have to. Now let's get back to your reps."  
  
"Max?! In my room?" Logan's jaw dropped despite himself.  
  
"Don't tell me it was so good you forgot." Bling bent down to get hold of Logan's leg again.  
  
"What did you see?" he pressed, wanting to know what happened.  
  
"I went you wake you up and when I opened the door Max was pulling her shirt back on. Now you can't deny something happened."  
  
"I thought it was a dream," he said quietly as Bling started the reps up again. What did this mean? What was between him and max now? He was filled with elation at the idea that Max would turn to him. Her words, now real as opposed to a whisper in a dream, echoed in his mind, 'Don't change.' For her, he never would.  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"I don't know, her and Zack left about thirty minutes ago." Despite the disappointing news, Logan's spirits were up and the normally strenuous workout went on without a hitch. The whole world would be worth waking up to so long as she was by his side.  
  
*****  
  
"Zack, what exactly is our plan here?" Max asked as they whipped down the streets in tandem on their motorcycles. They did not have to yell because the earpieces automatically filtered out the sound.  
  
"You lead me to Lydecker. I kill him. Not too complicated, Max."  
  
"I am aware but there are factors that must be taken into consideration."  
  
"Like what?" Zack didn't like the idea of anything getting in the way of his original plans.  
  
"My friends."  
  
"What are you talking about? Where is Lydecker?"  
  
"He was at my apartment."  
  
Max could imagine Zack's eyes narrowing with hatred. "How did he know where to find you?"  
  
"I don't think it was intentional," she responded quite truthfully, "My room mate met him at a conference…"  
  
"That's sick."  
  
"Tell me about it," she shuddered as the picture of Kendra in Lydecker's arms floated to the top of her thoughts.  
  
"Suggested execution? Are your friends expendable?"  
  
"No!" Max's voice was repulsed at the thought. Why was Zack being this way? And after all the kindness and concern he had shown the past few weeks. "There is a building across the way where we can monitor his movements. We wait until he is alone, then we strike quickly and efficiently."  
  
"No good."  
  
"What do you mean 'no good?'"  
  
"I want to enjoy this." Zack's voice took on a vicious tone. And Max knew exactly what he meant.  
  
After parking their bikes safely under some rubbage, they easily scaled the side of the building and found the best vantage point. In silence they waited, until finally Lydecker stepped out, a decidedly disturbing smile of satisfaction smeared across his face.  
  
"I'll rip that son of a bitch's mouth off."  
  
Max ignored his comment knowing full well that Zack would not hesitate to do so. "You follow him on your bike, since you have a helmet. You tell me where he goes and I'll find my way. I know the streets better then you do." She was tempted to mention power nibble, but this was not the time nor place to bring that up.  
  
They wasted no time, jumping down the four stories to the alleyway below, uncovering their motorcycles and going their separate ways. Zack Followed at a safe distance according to his Manticore training, and gave Max frequent updates as to his position.  
  
"North on Kingsway...East on Juniper Ave..." At any given time Max was well out of sight and three blocks away, adjusting her direction accordingly.  
  
Forty five minutes later Zack finally gave her some good news. "He's pulling into an alley between a pizza place and a tattoo parlor on Jackson Street. What's your ETA?"  
  
"Ten minutes. Some guy flipped his SUV on Milton..."  
  
"I'm going in without you then."  
  
"What?! No wait." She could hear him park his motorcycle, "What are you doing? You have no tactical advantage. We have done no recon on the area. You do not know what is in there."  
  
"He's entering the pizza parlor, Max. It is a crowded area, and the apartments above would hold no more than ten men, including himself. I can handle it."  
  
"ETA four minutes. Wait for it." Max poured ever ounce of authority she had into that one command. Yet still he didn't comply.  
  
"I'm in the building, he is headed up some back stairwell. Hold on."  
  
"Zack!" her cries were edging on pleading. She did not want to lose Zack. "I will be there in two minutes. Hold your position!"  
  
"He's on the fourth floor. Come up when you can." Zack informed Max. He waited in the stairwell until he heard Lydecker enter a room and close the door behind him.  
  
"Zack where are you?" Max's voice echoed in his ear, but he tapped it twice to notify Max he was going silent. With less sound then a stalking cat, Zack made his way to the door, behind which he could hear Lydecker, apparently talking to someone over the phone. He nearly tuned out Max's voice completely as thoughts of torture and revenge pushed all other thoughts out of his mind.  
  
"Do not, I repeat, do not engage! ETA one minute..." Max's voice was nearly drowned out in the blood that raged in his veins. He couldn't wait any longer, Max could have her fun later. He wanted first dibs on the bastard, he wanted to draw first blood. With one punch Zack knocked down the door to find Lydecker standing looking out the window across the room.  
  
"I'm disappointed in you Zack, you hesitated." Lydecker's calm voice seemingly echoed in the room. But the rage that filled Zack did not let him understand his situation and with his Manticore speed he leapt at Lydecker.  
  
"Zack!! Do not to engage." He ignored her.  
  
Something stopped him in mid air and threw him to the ground. He had no time to refocus his eyes when something kicked him in the face. A salty, iron liquid dripped into his mouth as his lip split open.  
  
Who ever did this did it with such stealth that there were no sounds except for the sounds of Zack's grunts. Another blow to his head was so swift that it blew the two way radio out of his ear and stars exploded infront of his eyes.  
  
Now Lydecker's voice was the only thing in his world and it mocked him, "My children heard you coming a mile away."  



	9. Flawwed Perfection

"What is it?" Kat asked as Cole fidgeted on her back. He had been still and silent strapped to her all morning. So much so that she would have forgotten that he was even there had it not been for his warmth on her back. Their search for Lydecker or any of his men had lasted all morning with no results but at least this gave her time to relax.  
  
The night before hadn't gone as smoothly as she would have liked. Her confrontation with Max didn't go at all as planned at all. In fact she was hoping she wouldn't have to confront her at all. Max was for all intents and purposes her big sister. Both Max and Jondy would always be looking out for her during the mock operations. If it wasn't for them Kat might have been weeded out as a weaker product and shot so that research could have been done on her corpse. She owed her life to Max and it truly hurt her to have to turn Max's life upside down like that. But how could Max have been so naïve? If she hadn't figured it out in all this time, she didn't deserve his affection. 'Stop it,' Kat chided herself, jealousy rising in her throat. After so long she couldn't deny it to herself any longer. These feelings she had for Zack were too overwhelming now and she felt empty inside having taken their son with her and leaving him behind. But she couldn't turn back, could she?  
  
Cole fidgeted once more on her back. "What's wrong?" she asked with a soothing voice as she loosened the makeshift sling she had made to hold him. Allowed more movement Cole jumped down and tugged at her jacket.  
  
"Zack, Mass..." Cole's mouth struggled with the words.  
  
"We had to leave them Cole. We'll come back soon," she hoped that she was not lying.  
  
But Cole shook his head in frustration, pulling at her jacket again. It was as though his mind was trying to convey an idea beyond his vocabulary. "Hear dem," he said with a serious face that reminded her of Zack. He pulled her pocket toward his ear and listened intently. Cole looked up to his mother, this time with concern on his face. Only then did Kat remember she had forgotten to give back the little earpiece she was assigned when they were searching for Cole.  
  
Reaching into her pocket she produced the small bean shaped device and placed by her ear. She placed it in her ear and listened to the conversation. Max was conveying timeframes and Zack seemed to be ignoring her instructions to back down. Something was very wrong here and she couldn't just listen as she lost the two people who meant so much to her. In their life as Manticore children they both saved her so many times, she couldn't just listen as they rushed into what sounded like a very dangerous mission. She would find Lydecker later, now she had to get back to Logan, maybe he would know what was going on.  
  
"Come on, Cole, we need to make a quick stop."  
  
Just as she turned to head back to Logan's penthouse a haunting voice streamed through the earpiece, "I'm disappointed in you Zack, you hesitated."  
  
"No..." she gasped quietly to herself. Kat understood that she had no choice but to return to Manticore, but if Max and Zack were captured... Focusing her mind on that last thought she sprinted as fast as her Manticore born legs allowed. Cole had no troubles keeping pace.  
  
*****  
  
"Oh god," Max gasped as Zack's muffled cries of pain resonated in her ear. " Zack! Respond! Respond!" Max ran into the back door of the pizza parlor, all the chefs and dishwasher stopping to stare at the crazy screaming lady. She gave them no notice and sprinted for the stairwell. There was not enough time so she jumped up two stories at a time, all the while screaming Zack's name. Finally she got to the door of the room and found Zack's motionless body sprawled across the floor. Lydecker calmly stood over him, with two children, no older then 13 years old, at his side.  
  
"Hello, Max," Lydecker greeted her as she came to a halt in the doorway. "I don't believe you've met the newest Manticore generation. Now will you come quietly or shall I have them demonstrate how they are the fastest and strongest yet?" At the cue the children stepped forward in unison. Unlike the earlier Manticore prototypes, these two, a girl and a boy, looked the epitome of the kids next door. They did not bear the haircuts of a soldier nor the military issued paraphernalia. Only the emotionally barren faces gave any clue to the lethal power they possessed. The pre-teen boy looked like he should have been either at basketball practice or raising hell. He seemed tall for his age and his blonde hair was a mess of spikes, much like Logan's. He had a caucasian complexion and eyes so dark brown that they could have probably passed for black.  
  
However it was the girl who caught Max's attention. Her black wavy hair was smartly tied into a ponytail, and her skin was only slightly lighter than Max's own. But her pale grey-blue eyes were her distinguishing feature. Something about those eyes…  
  
They all turned their attentions to the floor when Zack let out a low groan as he regained consciousness. Gripping his head, he slowly lifted himself to a kneeling position. Both the children stepped forward eagerly as if to engage Zack again. But Lydecker had full control of the children's actions, "Stand down." One simple command and they stepped back, looking as though they had never moved in the first place. Now Zack was standing, albeit on shaky legs and with determined steps he edged his way back toward Max, never turning his back to Lydecker. He was gathering his strength and if Max could just delay for a little while longer they had a chance. It was extremely slim, but it was a chance nonetheless.  
  
"You have your special children, Lydecker. Why won't you just leave us alone?" She stepped in front of the weakened Zack.  
  
"Why would I abandon my first success?"  
  
"We are flawed, Lydecker, you said it yourself. Why not just concentrate on them?"  
  
"Your flaws can be corrected, your personalities erased. Now it would be in your best interest to come along without a fight."  
  
"We won't just go back there. We will not go quietly." Zack's strong voice sounded in response. Max listened in, hearing that his heartbeat was steady. He was healing surprisingly fast, even considering their genetic makeup. But he still needed time, she need to make Lydecker talk a little more.  
  
"That is what you really want isn't, Lydecker? Just to compare us to your new prototypes, your new children." She prayed that she had played her cards right and that Lydecker wouldn't take her up on her challenge, outright.  
  
Another disturbing smile crept across Lydecker's normally sour façade. "I have considered. But this is..." he paused to find the word, "…ironic."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Max didn't really want to know what caused this man to grin but she needed to give Zack more time.  
  
"Max, Zack, you are the top of the X-5. The others were skilled but you both excelled in all things..."  
  
"I don't think you know what ironic means..." was what Max said aloud but inside she was praying for Zack to regain his strength.  
  
"It is ironic that you refer to these two as my children." He continued and placed fatherly hands on the shoulders of the boy and the girl. "To create the X-6 prototypes we used the X-5 genetic pool as a base, combining the best genetic attributes of the top X-5's…"  
  
'It can't be...' Max's mind seemed to freeze at the implication.  
  
"... namely you two."  
  
*****  
  
It took her no longer than two minutes to get to the apartment. She hadn't strayed too far in the first place and her dizzying speed got her there in record time. Only the slightest quickening of her breath and glow of her cheeks hinted at her exertion. She had pulled out the earpiece on the way since Lydecker's voice sent her into flashbacks of her weeks at Manticore. Shivers would rack her body and she almost couldn't run.  
  
Bling let her in and after a quick greeting led her to Logan who sat in front of his computer. "G'Morning Kat," Logan welcomed, unaware of anything that happened the night before. His lack of knowledge was welcome as he acted the same towards her. Infact he seemed to be in an even happier mood. She only allowed herself a few seconds to absorb his calmness before she let out with the bad news.  
  
"There is something wrong. We need to locate Max and Zack."  
  
The smile dropped from his face. "She left a note saying she was off doing something..."  
  
"They were hunting down Lydecker, didn't she tell you?"  
  
"No, I was asleep when she left..."  
  
"We need to find them, now." Her plea came out as a demand and Logan didn't hesitate.  
  
"If I can just triangulate the sources of the frequency..."  
  
"18.92" Kat offered the frequency without being asked.  
  
He typed a quick command into the computer and the screen came alive with aerial maps of the city. Some were brought up then dismissed, until one caught the programs attention.  
  
"Bling, get the elevator."  
  
Focusing and refocusing, the program finally closed in on one building and an address was displayed as its caption. Grabbing for a gun in his drawer he motioned for Kat to make her way to the elevator where Bling was waiting. His life was just beginning to feel normal, his soul complete, he wasn't about to lose that now.  



	10. Vengence

Kat sat in the back seat of Logan's car, rubbing her hands together. It was a nervous habit she developed at Manticore, which she could very well have been eliminated for, had it not been for Max. Cole sat beside her examining the vehicle. He had never ridden one before and seemed confused as to how he was sitting still and the world outside this metal box was moving around him.  
  
Bling was confidently blazing down the cluttered streets. In the passenger seat Logan was typing commands into his laptop, which he had connected to his cell phone. He was currently hacking into the hover drone automatic command center.  
  
"Come on, come on..." he muttered to himself as he waited for his last hack to break through.   
  
80%...90%...95%...100%  
  
Immediately he began typing furiously. New windows popped up on the screen including a map of Seattle. Logan examined the screen with experienced eyes, typing in another quick command which caused the map to zoom into the sector Max and Zack were located. On the map now, little red dots were lazily drifting about. Another quick command and Logan commandeered one of the hover drones. A red dot made a b-line to the building they were headed to.  
  
A few more buttons pressed and another window popped up, showing the hover drone's video feed. Again Logan muttered to himself, "Where are you Max?"  
  
He maneuvered the hover drone to pause outside each window, taking only a few seconds to examine the contents of the room before moving on to the next, until finally the subject was in sight. The back of a man's head, Lydecker he could only assume, half obstructed his view. But it was her. Zack, with a cut above his eye and a split lip, stood behind. The only people he couldn't identify were the two teenagers, their backs to the camera.  
  
"Oh god no." Kat's voice startled him. She had been watching quietly over his shoulder the whole time. "Those are two of the X-6. I recognize them." She may have been cured of her seizures but even so a shiver ran up her spine. "You two can't go in there. You will be killed. Scratch the plan I have to go alone."  
  
Both Bling and Logan looked like they were about to object but she cut them off, "Keep Cole in the car. Promise me you'll take care of him."  
  
Bling was the first to find his voice, "We will."  
  
"Bling how long?" Logan's voice had a serious tone.  
  
Bling replied just as seriously, "Around this corner."  
  
*****  
  
Max did not have to feign shock at Lydecker's words. An eerie silence filled the room. This was no normal reunion. Max looked again at the girl. Her pale, ice blue eyes, whose piercing gaze belonged to Zack, contained behind them Max's fire. This was her daughter, whom she did not save from Lydecker.  
  
"Why not just create new ones Lydecker if we were so flawed?" She looked now to the boy, whose looks virtually mimicked Zack's, except for the tall, slender but ripped volleyball player physique he got from Max no doubt. This was beginning to feel creepy.  
  
"We tried, but the pulse... So much data lost, what a shame. I'm growing tired of this," he pulled out a two way radio, "Alpha Leader, what is your position?"  
  
"Flying over Sector M-40." A voice promptly replied.  
  
"Make your way to my coordinates..."  
  
Max would have listened into the rest of the conversation but some static came to life in her ear. "Max, if you can hear me nod your head." It was Logan. 'No, he couldn't come here...' but she nodded her head. It was then that she saw the little hover drone outside the window "You have to delay we are coming and Kat is with us. Stay away from the window." Max risked a quick look back at Zack but he was focusing on Lydecker suggesting he did not hear. Something must have happened to his earpiece when he took that beating.  
  
It was Kat now, "ETA two minutes."  
  
The girl's eyes narrowed at Max, turning her head to face Max straight on. She must have heard the bug. Without a word, or sound of footfall, she took a few quick steps toward Max. Max did not flinch, she knew the girl was only going to pull the earpiece out, but Zack saw the movement as a threat and reacted with a soldier's response. He pulled out a gun and aimed it between the girls eyes. It would have been lethal had Zack gotten the shot off. Unfortunately Lydecker was true to his word about the speed and strength of the X-6, as the boy, from a stand still, sprinted over and kicked the gun out of Zack's hand sending it flying across the room. Even with Zack's speed, he couldn't squeeze the trigger and that was not a good sign.  
  
There was no choice now, and with that act of aggression Zack had sealed their fate. They had to fight. The two X-6's moved with blurring speed. Was that what they looked like to normal humans? A fist or foot would suddenly appear before her leaving Max with barely any time to react, barely enough time to block or move and only then, if it was an instantaneous reaction.  
  
The sounds of the battle drew Logan's attention, "Max? Max are you alright..." She couldn't pay attention to him let alone answer. All her efforts now went to defending herself, waiting for any opening for an attack. This girl was too well trained, defending herself even as she attacked. Finally there was an opening and Max threw her first punch. It was as though Max had told the girl she was going to punch, as the X-6 grabbed and redirected her wrist, pulling Max into her waiting knee then pushing her back again. Strange as it may seem it was obvious that the girl did not want to hurt Max. Their objective was probably to bring them back to Manticore undamaged.  
  
Max grabbed at and held onto one of the girl's feet as it was aimed to strike her head. The X-6 was not phased as she jumped to kick Max with her other foot. Max grabbed that as well, thinking she had the advantage. However in one smooth movement the girl landed in a handstand position, jerking her legs down and away, effectively flinging Max across the room like an old rag doll.   
  
"Max...going..." the earpiece was damaged as she landed and Logan's voice was cut off. Liquid trickled into her mouth as the jarring impact with the wall drew blood. She looked up expecting another attack, but instead found the girl calmly standing there, not even a strand of her black hair had escaped from her elastic. Her grey-blue gaze pinning Max to the floor.  
  
*****  
  
Cole watched as his mother exited the vehicle. He could sense it in the air, like a dog smelling an earthquake... something was very, very wrong. And as the door to the pizza parlor closed behind her, he began to get anxious.  
  
"Here," Logan said to Bling as he finished fastening the silencer onto his pistol. "Shoot at the window. That should shake them up a little bit."  
  
"Let's hope." Bling took the gun and aimed it at the window where the little hover drone was peering through. He was about ready to pull the trigger when the back window of the car shattered. Both men were taken by surprise. Who would be shooting at them? No one knew they were there. But looking into the back seat revealed the truth: Cole was gone, running in after his mother.  
  
*****  
  
Zack actually looked to be holding his own with the boy. But that was probably just because Zack, of all the X-5's, could take the most abuse without faltering. Punches were thrown and blocked, attacks were met with counterattacks. It would have been like watching a beautifully choreographed dance had it not been for the threat of death.  
  
Max's opponent jerked her head up to face Lydecker, still standing at the window. Then without warning she leapt to Lydecker and pulled him down, only milliseconds before the window behind him shattered. Max took the opportunity to get back to her feet, and out of the corner of her eye she could see another form enter the apartment. It was a relief that could not be enjoyed as both the girl and boy, turned their attentions to the intruder. Zack was sent flying across the room as the boy finished with him and approached the intruder with a quick roundhouse kick. The rest of the battle was a blur and despite the uneven numbers the X-6's always had the upper hand. It seemed they were holding back before as now their dizzyingly fast attacks were coordinated with no words or even hand signals to communicate. Neither Max, Zack nor Kat wanted to admit it, but they were going to lose this battle.  
  
No more than a minute into the fight and the X-5's were suffering greatly. Lydecker stood, well away from the window now, watching his new children with awe. Just then something else burst into the room. The boy, who held Kat up on a wall, turned his attentions to the new intruder. She took advantage of the distraction and kicked him in the gut. "Cole!" she screamed, "No! Get out of here." Seconds later the boy recovered, throwing her to the ground. He signaled something to his fellow X-6 that Max did not recognize and the girl approached Cole with both curiosity and caution.  
  
Cole paid Kat no attention. His mother and his new friends were in trouble and he had to help. Even Lydecker was amazed at the child's stealth and speed as it rivaled the new generation. Cole leapt at the girl, kicking her square across the face so quickly there was no time to react. The boy leapt forward to help his sibling but Zack got in the way, trying to help his son.  
  
Weakened, Zack gave a valiant effort, actually landing a few hits, before he was again thrown to the ground and out of the way and the X6 boy once again advanced on Cole. He was only able to block a few attacks before finally being overwhelmed. Cole handled both of them with ease, but they were learning his moves and he would not last much longer...  
  
Across the room when Kat fell to the ground she hit something besides the floor. A gun lay beneath her. She looked up to see her son fighting for all he was worth, Zack and Max laying in much the same position as she, wanting to help, but held in place, shocked at Cole's fighting prowess. He moved about as no human nor genetically enhanced human could.  
  
Even Lydecker stood still, staring at the display before him. She couldn't shoot at the X6 because that meant she risked hitting Cole. But if she shot Lydecker maybe, just maybe, it would distract the X6. This could be her only chance and, as a trained soldier and a mother, Kat did not hesitate. Two shots rung in the air and Lydecker was down.  
  
*****  
  
Logan sat there, obsessively staring at his mac screen, chin resting on his fists. He and Bling sat silently, knowing there was nothing they could do. Knowing full well the possibility that this time they should be worrying. The thunder of gunfire shot through the air and their eyes automatically turned up to the source of the sound.  
  
*****  
  
The shots silenced everyone including the X-6's who looked at Lydecker's crumpled body in disbelief. Their leader has fallen. The seemingly immortal man who taught them and tested them to their limits, now lay motionless on the ground. The girl was the first to gather herself and she looked at Kat with fire in her eyes.  
  
Still on the ground, Kat now pointed the gun straight between those authoritative grey-blue eyes.  
  
"Kat! Wait!" Max's voice was like a flare that cut through the fog of rage that filled Kat's mind. But it could not calm her fury. This was the girl who would always take that last punch when the beatings were through. This was the girl who strapped her down and pried her eyes open with that metal contraption so that she would not miss the onslaught of horrifying footage. Kat could never forget her eyes, nor her jet black hair. Even with a gun aimed at her head, the girl did not flinch for she had remembered Kat as well. This X-6 taunted her with those icy eyes, daring, just daring her to let loose a bullet.  
  
Kat's finger squeezed the trigger, but she immediately released as she saw Max lunge to block her sights. But it was too late. The deadly projectile was fired on target but missed its mark, lodging itself in Max's shoulder instead.  



	11. Confessions

Logan had never felt more useless before in his life. All he could do was watch as Max shielded the girl with her own body, landing on her back her eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. What was she doing? Why would she risk her life for anything that was Manticore let alone a prototype who just tried to kill her? Both Bling and himself watched as the scene was coming to a close. Zack was at Max's side in the blink of an eye, stroking her hair and mumbling something. He applied pressure to the wound, trying to stop the blood which was now pooling beneath her. Kat sat up against the wall, gun still in hand, hugging her knees and slowly rocking back and forth.  
  
The black haired girl stood there as if in shock, maybe because Kat had actually shot at her, or maybe because Max's actions confused her as much as it did Logan and Bling. She signaled something too fast for Logan to see, and the boy picked up Lydecker throwing the still limp body over his shoulder, blood staining his shirt. After adjusting the body he ducked out the window and jumped.  
  
Video became reality as he landed in front of the car, giving them a quick once over then sprinting away down the alley. His movements were not awkward despite the man slung on his shoulders, a testimony to the X-6's true power. A few seconds later, the girl landed before them. Landing so gracefully, she did even have to pause before she sprinted off after the boy.  
  
*****  
  
The boy picked up Lydecker at her command and jumped out the window. She turned to do the same, but could not resist one look back. Max lay on the floor, the blood growing noticeably beneath. There was no tactical advantage to that act; there was no rational purpose for that course of action. It was a useless gesture, and she could not understand it. These adversaries confused her. Turning, she leaped out the window to follow her brother to the rally point.  
  
*****  
  
After what seemed an eternity Kat lifted her head and looked at what she had done. Her voice was weak when she spoke, "Zack, I didn't mean to…"  
  
"It's alright, Kat," his voice was tender, "She'll live, we just need to give her some blood."  
  
"Why did she..."  
  
"Who knows why Max does what she does?" Zack cut her off when he heard her voice quiver for he knew if she began to cry he might be tempted to do so as well. He knew why Max did it. She was trying to save the girl because it was her daughter. Their daughter. He didn't want to admit it but deep down inside he didn't want Kat to pull the trigger either. As he fought his son he had an odd sense of pride. These two were of his own flesh and he would rather see them as soldiers for Manticore then die. That thought alone was difficult to wrap his head around.  
  
Max had lost a lot of blood by now, her face was pale as death. He was not confident in his own promise to Kat that she would live. But at least the pool of blood had stopped growing.  
  
"We gotta go," he said as he gathered up Max's seemingly lifeless body in his arms. "I will not let you die," he whispered into her ear as he cradled her closer to jump out the window, "I will not let you leave me."  
  
*****  
  
The sterile walls of the hospital offered no comfort. Kat stood by her side stroking back her hair. Max's face was so pale, emphasizing the bruises and cuts that much more. The doctors had fished out the bullet, and stitched her up nicely. No questions were asked thanks to Logan's connections. He was downstairs getting some food and Bling was in the car with Cole. Zack was currently in the other room donating blood, it would be her turn soon. But for now she was alone with Max, and the tears clouded her vision. Max saved her life time and again and she repaid her with a bullet.  
  
"Max, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. My reaction wasn't fast enough..." She truly believed it was all her fault and no one could convince her otherwise. Not just because it was her finger that pulled the trigger, but because she was to blame for this whole situation. If she hadn't seduced Zack that night… Zack thought it was simple pheromones, which it was, but his reaction would not have been so strong had she not locked herself in her room, closing every vent to trap the natural perfume. Foolishly she thought that if he spent the night in her arms he would understand how he made her feel. "Please don't die. I've found you again and I don't want to lose you."  
  
"Hey, Kat they're ready for you." Zack stepped in flexing the arm they had just drained blood from. Kat kissed Max's forehead and left, rolling up her sleeve.  
  
Zack waited patiently for her footsteps to turn the corner before approaching the bed. "I know we're supposed to be doing this according to the book but it's taking too long," Zack confessed, pulling out some blood transfusion equipment. He pierced his vein as he talked, "I told them I could give more, but the lady didn't believe me, I had already given a quart more than usual…" His blood flowed down the tube into Max's thirsty veins. "Max you can't leave me," he tenderly whispered, gently stroking her pale cheek with the back of his fingers, "I know what Kat told you. I heard everything. Max, you will not die. I won't let it happen."  
  
*****  
  
"Logan."  
  
Logan slowed and turned to find Dr. Carr following. "Hello, Doctor. Thanks for this by the way. It's important to her that no one knows where she is."  
  
"Someone you're housing for your... boss?" Dr. Carr knew about as much as any informants Logan contacted.  
  
"Uh, yeah... We shouldn't be long. She's a fast healer."  
  
"She got shot and lost a lot of blood Logan," Dr. Carr was concerned, "It was damn coincidence those other two donors were here, but she will not heal in a day."  
  
"We have to get her out of here to a secure place. There are equipment and doctors waiting." Logan turned and began to wheel away slowly.  
  
"If she's that important..." Dr. Carr followed.  
  
"She is."  
  
There was a moment of silence before the doctor started up again. "I have something I want to run past you, Logan."  
  
Logan slowed, looking at the doctor. His tone suggested he was about to propose something that Logan just didn't want to hear. The doctor smiled, confirming Logan's suspicions. Pushing at his wheels he sped up so that the doctor had to quicken his stride to keep pace.  
  
"No."  
  
"Just hear me out, Logan. It could change your life."  
  
Logan did not slow. "You were the one, good doctor, who told me that I would never walk. Then you told me about a study being preformed on quadriplegics. Then you told me it was a failure. More research, more failures. I don't want to hear it."  
  
"This one is promising Logan."  
  
To that Logan came to a jarring stop. "Like the ones before it?" He did not try to hide the menace in his voice. The good doctor had taken it upon himself to bring Logan's hopes up just to let them come crashing down and Logan wasn't about to let that happen again. The room that held Max was just down the hall and he just wanted to be by her side, he didn't want to put up with this.  
  
"Logan. You want to walk right? Then you have to try everything."  
  
"I want to walk but I also have to be realistic. I will not walk again."  
  
"The tests for this highly experimental surgery has an eighty percent success rate on lab mice and a seventy percent success rate on primates. Logan," he paused to make sure Logan heard what he was saying, "of the three people who have undergone this surgery, three are now on their own two feet."  
  
"And what does that mean for me?"  
  
"You will be walking by the end of the week."  
  
*****  
  
The blood had already drained from Zack's face when he finally pulled out the needle. That was all he could give for now. The rest he donated, which the nurse insisted on purifying, and the amount Kat was giving as well would bring Max back to health in two days or less. He watched her face, more peaceful now, as she slept. He would conquer hell if it meant she were safe. But she never needed him. If Max was born first she would have probably been the one Lydecker had designated to be leader.  
  
Everything Kat had said was true, though he had never wanted to admit it. Him, having feelings? And of love? Of all the years he had roamed the cities of America he had seen the endless parade of couples, holding and touching and kissing each other. It angered him every time. Didn't they know that by showing these displays of affection they were endangering their partners? Couldn't they understand they were forcing their own enemies onto their mates. But now Zack realized why he hated to watch these couples as they paraded their love about. He wanted something like that. He wanted someone to hold. Someone to show the affection that he was denied all his life.  
  
When Max was around he couldn't explain how he felt. That morning when he saw her come out of Logan's room, he had never felt more rage or jealousy before in his hate filled life. It wasn't just professional admiration or a need to protect her like the others. She frustrated him with her stubbornness. No one ever treated him like she did. Max never backed down, nor bent to his will. She was a challenge. And he always loved a good challenge.   
  
"I..." his voice faltered just for a moment, but he knew he would only be able to say this to her when she could not respond and crush him with her rejection, "...I love you" He leaned down until his face was only inches from hers, stroking back her hair, he lay a soft kiss upon her lips, now full and red with his blood. As he pulled away she let out a soft moan, her eyebrows furrowing as though she was sleeping beauty awakening from sweet slumber.  
  
He was wrong. She could hurt him with a word, even if she was in this half state of consciousness. And that one word escaped the lips he had just kissed, her voice full of longing, "Logan..."  
  
*****  
  
Logan had a battle in his mind, nearly running into at least four people on his way back to Max's room. What if what the doctor said was true and he could be walking? But his more cynical side would always take hold. Why should he believe the doctor this time? Sure it sounded good but so did the other experiments. But then why would he pass this up? Three paraplegics just like him had their legs back. That was so far a hundred percent success rate. So far a hundred percent, but he would be that inevitable failure that reduced that rate.  
  
The arguments went back and forth in his head. Every time any glimmer of hope shined down on his miserable life it would disappear again. He was now at the door, when he saw Zack standing over her. Logan didn't know why but he didn't want to interrupt, so he waited just outside. Through the slightly ajar door he could see Zack remove something from his arm. Probably a needle, giving her blood just as Max had done those weeks ago. Silently he watched as Zack stood there not speaking a word. After a minute or so something did leave his lips, but it was so quiet Logan could not hear. Then jealousy rose in Logan's throat as he saw Zack lean over and kiss Max.  
  
Max was not some thing, some trophy to be won, but Logan felt the urge to go in there and claim what was his. But he stopped himself, he was a better man than that. Max would choose her own fate, it was what she always did.  
  
Seconds later he heard a voice that sounded like Max. Whatever word was spoken seemed to have frozen Zack in his place. And only moments after that Zack burst out of the room. It was apparent that he was the last person Zack wanted to see, and his gaze shot icicles, but there was something else behind those eyes. Past the rage, and beyond the hatred Zack seemed to be asking him a question. Knowing Zack, it was more like an ultimatum: Take care of her or I will kill you.  
  
Logan held his ground Zack passed, and then made his way to Max's bed. She lay there with a peaceful look on her face, maybe she had finally found that tranquil state she had always been searching for. "Hey you," he quietly greeted, as though he might wake her from her much needed sleep. "You kinda scared us there... You scared me Max..."  
  
He reached for her hand and held it tight. "I don't know what it is... I don't know what you're doing to me. But, well, I do know that," he fumbled with the words, smiling as he laughed at himself, "God, look at me, I can talk to millions of people to try and avenge the world… What I'm trying to say is. I think I love you. And I just hope you know that I will always be here. Ever since the day I saw you, you have awakened something in my soul and if you die…I don't think I could fill that void."  
  
He tried to touch her face, but his sitting position wouldn't allow him to reach her. He had never hated anything more in his life then he hated his paralysis now. 


	12. A New Threat

"Permission to speak sir," she firmly spoke her request as she saluted the man on the other side of the bed. Lydecker lay between them, more pale then usual as machines breathed for him and helped him pump his blood, an oddly serene look displacing his normally strict disposition. He would survive, Kat had shot him straight through the heart with her first shot and punctured his right lung with the second. But Manticore technology handled the injuries with ease, currently growing him new organs. But until they had fully grown, machines would control Lydecker's life force.  
  
"Permission granted soldier," Major Mathews, Lydecker's second in command addressed her. He was young for his position and he was much like Lydecker that way. He was on the fast track to a promotion and she knew by the way he looked at Lydecker he was hoping Lydecker would just die.  
  
"Request an operation, sir." As her training demanded she looked straight ahead, not making eye contact with the Major. She had to do this right. This was an unusual request and she had never heard of any X's to have done such a thing. But with the X-6's things were different. They were trained harder and faster, ready to handle special ops in real world situation by the time they were ten. They were sent near and far with select soldiers to pose as parents. No one suspected a child. No one ever suspected the child.  
  
"There are no operations available as of yet. You will be the first assigned when one does come up." She knew the major was telling the truth. She had been sent on some hundred missions and had accomplished all objectives quickly and efficiently. But now the situation was different she already had an operation in mind for herself.  
  
So she tried to clarify, "I would like to request an operation, sir."  
  
"What do you mean, Raven?" Her own name coming from his lips took her off guard. At Manticore they refrained from being casual with everyone. She had not been expecting this friendly reference to herself. Well that wasn't true. Major Mathews had used her personal name before, opting to call her Raven rather than six-r. He seemed uncomfortable calling all the children by their labels only doing so when Lydecker was in earshot. But it caught her off guard nonetheless, she was uncomfortable with people of authority speaking to her so informally.  
  
"I would like to be assigned to seek out the X-5."  
  
"That is a hefty request..." Out of the corner of her eye she could see his brows furrow in concentration. "And your last operation regarding the X-5 did not go as planned."  
  
Raven would not take that insult in stride, "With all due respect, sir, if the Colonel had not been in the room, six-t and myself would have handled the situation."  
  
"Ah yes, Ty, maybe he should go with you then."  
  
"I believe it would better serve the purpose if I went alone, sir."  
  
Major Mathews, paused, taking her propositions into consideration. Like Lydecker, he too valued her opinion on missions. "Request granted, report to ops o-five hundred hours to gather any necessary equipment. A helicopter will be waiting at o-nine hundred to take you to your destination. Dismissed."  
  
Raven turned about face and marched out the room.  
  
*****  
  
"I'm glad you decided to do this Logan," Doctor Carr said to Logan's back.  
  
"Let's just get this over with shall we?" Logan lay on the padded examination table on his side. The doctor was prepping his back for a necessary spinal tap.  
  
"Now, Logan. This will hurt a great deal..."  
  
"Really, and I thought it would be done with rose petals." Doctor Carr knew Logan didn't mean to be so offensive, he heard the nervous tone underlying the sarcasm.  
  
"I'm doing it now."  
Logan winced, clenching his jaw and closing his eyes against the pain. Despite himself, tears developed and fell from his eyes. As the needle pierced his spinal cord the excruciating pain became unbearable. Though he tried valiantly to hold it in, an agonizing scream escaped his lips.  
  
*****  
  
"Kat, are you ... alright?" Zack knew he was never good at comforting but he hated to see Kat like this. She stood facing a wall, holding herself, alone in a waiting room. She did not respond so he stepped closer. "Kat it isn't your fault, you can't blame yourself."  
  
Up close he could see her body was tense. "You can't say it isn't, Zack. She's in that bed because of me," her voice was silent and remorse.  
  
"No, Kat," his voice soothed her and he was behind her now trying to rub some warmth into her arms, "Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known she would do that."  
  
"I could have not pulled the trigger."  
  
"Please Kat," he drew her into his embrace.  
  
As his strength surrounded her she felt no need to be brave. She pressed her face into his chest and let his shirt soak up her tears. Taking the cue he held her tighter under his chin, stroking her hair. "Max…She did what she did because… that was her daughter."  
  
Her body tensed under him but she did not pull away.  
  
"Or, at least, she believes it was her daughter."  
  
"What do you mean?" her words were muffled.  
  
"Apparently, Lydecker used the genetic codes of both Max and myself to create the X-6..."  
  
"So they are you children?" Zack heard her words but also heard beyond them.  
  
"They are made of me, but Cole is my son and I love him." Beneath his hands he could feel Kat relax once more. Though his kind words were a relief to her, they drew more tears from her eyes. This was what she wanted. She craved his embrace and the solace it gave her soul. This was it. She had to tell him now. By doing so, she was risking a lot: a friend, a protector, a guide, and an ally. But if she held this in any longer she would surely go mad.  
  
Fighting though the sobs she tried to speak to him, "Zack...I...I..." she tilted her head back to see his sapphire eyes. Maybe she could borrow their strength. However when she looked up she saw only pity.  
  
He used two tentative fingers to push back a stray lock of hair from her face, "It's okay Kat. When Max wakes up you'll see she won't be mad. You did nothing wrong." He leaned in and kissed her fore head, just as he saw other lovers comfort their mates, then pulled her back under his chin. This was an odd thing for him. Kat always brought out his protective side more so than others.  
  
'Not now,' Kat thought to herself as she tried to absorb Zack's warmth into her. She would tell him when he wasn't thinking about Max. But she would tell him. She promised herself that much.  
  
*****  
  
A few hours later they all left for Logan's apartment with a still unconscious Max. Zack had swiped some medical supplies to ensure they could in fact take care of her until she reached optimum health. When they got their Zack carried her and lay her on Logan's bed.  
  
"Mass, alright?" Cole asked his mother as they lay her down.  
  
"She'll be fine sweety."  
  
"Wanna play with Mass..." He motioned toward her sleeping body, but Kat held him back.  
  
"She needs sleep. Now lets go eat. Are you hungry? Mommy hungry." Obediently Cole followed her into the kitchen.  
  
Zack was still busy setting up shop, ready to infuse Max with one more liter of blood. After that she should have been awake and in her prime in no time. As he pierced the vein in his other arm he heard Logan quietly, hesitantly enter the room.  
  
"How is she doing? From the Manticore perspective, that is." His voice was still weak as the pain from the spinal tap still lingered. It was a ghost pain that made it feel as though his legs were ablaze with a dull fire. But he knew that was only because nerves in the spine were set off, not the nerves in his legs.  
  
"She'll be fine in a couple hours. I'm giving her one more liter for good measure." He inserted the adjoining needle into the back of Max's hand.  
  
"Haven't you given enough? Is it safe for you?" Zack could hardly believe that Logan was concerned with his well being. Even so, he decided to heal Logan's ignorance.  
  
"We are X-5. Blood regenerates in our body at an exceptional rate when our levels are low. So by draining my blood my body is producing more than enough for Max and myself."  
  
"Ah... I see..." though he didn't really. Most of the splicing that occurred had an internal effect that Logan himself had no way of noticing.  
  
Zack let the silence linger a little while longer before speaking. "We'll have to get her out of Seattle soon."  
  
"Why? Lydecker is out of commission for a while, there is no direct threat."  
  
"Did you think about that before you said it, or did it just come out of your ass?"  
  
Logan straightened at the insult. This went beyond the typical Manticore wit. "Excuse me?"  
  
"You think Lydecker is the only one. If he dies there will be the next in command to take his place. None of this will end until Manticore is destroyed."  
  
"Even with the next man stepping up, it would take a while to get things settled and to begin another operation would it not?"  
  
"Not if they have the X-6 on our backs. They will find us before nightfall."  
  
"Impossible..."  
  
"We are talking Manticore. She has stayed here long enough because of ties she thinks she has with you. You're clouding her mind and holding her back. You will get her killed."  
  
Logan wasn't about to put up with that. "Why did Manticore come searching in Seattle after all this time anyways? Wasn't it you who brought Cole here? Kat following with that tracker implanted in her ear. Excuse me if I'm mistaken but I'm pretty sure you were the one who brought her along to take down Lydecker in some raging show of testosterone."  
  
Zack turned around, still attached to Max, and in a stern voice made his response. "Yeah? At least I had a purpose. She comes running back to you time and again for no good reason. Risking her life for nothing in return. You can do nothing for her," he emphasized the 'nothing', "Don't you realize that the day will come when you and your wheelchair-bound ass will get her in over her head?" Both men didn't care to keep their voices down but they did not reach the point of shouting.  
  
"In case you haven't noticed you were all born, in over your head. Lydecker will seek you out anywhere you might go. With those X-6 around she won't be safe anywhere. Might as well not be safe here." Though Logan tried he could not avoid the argument that was truly the center of his concern: He wanted her to stay here, with him. Zack caught the meaning of his last sentence.  
  
"Logan I would have expected more from you, especially with all that you've done working the informant net. You just want to have her by your side. I thought you would be above selfishness."  
  
"Are you telling me you don't want her to leave with you for your own purposes. I saw you kiss her, Zack, it's obvious you care for her. For a military elite you aren't very covert."  
  
Zack did not falter though he was surprised Logan knew of that stolen kiss. "I can protect her and I won't slow her down. I'm what she needs."  
  
"And you think your Machiavellian mentality will be what she needs. She's lived a hard life and at least she is dealing with it. You on the other hand don't seem to be brave enough to face change."  
  
"Don't tell me what I'm brave enough to face," his lowered his tone like a dog growling, "I've killed better men than you to keep them safe."  
  
"Is that a threat?"  
  
Zack tried to glare him down but to his surprise Logan held his ground. The silence that fell between them was palpable. Max's slow ragged breaths were the only thing that dared make a sound.  
  
Behind Zack, out of both men's sight, Max's eyes struggled to open. 


	13. Shiver

Bling stood just outside, the harsh words were filtered out by the door but by the sound of it accusations were being flung about. He shook his head, and walked away to find Kat just about to step out the door, Cole in hand.  
  
"Hey, Kat, where are you going?"  
  
"Bling," she was a little startled. They had never talked much for the short time she was there, "I was just stepping out to the store down the street."  
  
"I'll think I'll head with ya, this place is getting too tense for me."  
  
"No!" her answer was a little over eager, and she caught herself trying to sound normal again, "I mean, no, Lydecker's people are crawling around this place, if they find us I can get away, I don't know if you can…"  
  
"Then should you be going out alone? Don't you want to lay low?" Bling was confused, he hadn't known her for much more than a day but she was definitely acting strange, contradicting her own words.  
  
"I just..." she searched for an explanation that this guy would find acceptable but found none. "I just need to go... out. By myself. I need to be alone... with my son." Her sentences were choppy, signaling uneasiness, but she left no room for further questions as she opened the door.  
  
"Bye Bling," Cole lingered a moment to say goodbye, but his mother tugged him kindly along.  
  
Bling wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but for some reason he knew they weren't coming back. He was gonna miss the little guy. They had left him in the car with Cole for something like three hours at the hospital and he was asleep half the time. When he was awake Bling could tell he had a mind that matured even faster than his body. With childish words he spoke of a world through an adults eyes. It was truly a strange combination. And if Lydecker's men did find them, Bling feared for the worst.  
  
A minute later Zack burst from Logan's room, making his way in a few brisk steps to the kitchen. The look on his face seemed, to Bling, to be a mixture of anger and despair. Bling didn't catch it before, but now as Zack leaned against the table, he clearly saw Zack's whole body was racked with convulsions.  
  
"Hey, man, do you need some help?" Bling offered though he didn't know there was anything he could do  
  
Zack glared at Bling, but caught himself. Bling deserved none of his hatred. Trembling, Zack forced his head to shake from side to side. Leaning on anything that would support him he slowly, on unsure legs, walked to his jacket on the couch. It looked like he had just barely learned to move his legs.  
  
Finally, he delved into his pockets retrieving the small vile of tryptophan. In a show of defeat, Zack finally gave into his body falling onto his back on the couch. Every movement was a battle, every breath was labored, but eventually he brought four pills up to his mouth. He might as well have been trying to swallow a watermelon whole, the pills would not go down smoothly. Eventually after many tries he got them down, and lay there, willing his body to be still, waiting for them to take effect. Bling could see his jaw muscles clench and his fists try and fight their seizing.  
  
*****  
  
At times like these he was beyond helpless. Zack's body shook, no matter how hard he tried to stop. He hated when his own body betrayed him like this. But he hated the flashbacks even more. From what Zack understood, the decreasing levels of serotonin in his brain caused the nerves to shoot off at random, thus the seizing. The flashbacks were triggered in much the same manner.  
  
  
"What do you think you were doing, soldier!" the commanding officer's voice came from behind him. Zack knew from before that this was actually a rhetorical question and he kept his mouth shut. They brought him once again to the small, glaringly white room. All faces of the almost cubicle room had a pristine glean that one would never suspect that blood had been shed here. From his own experience, Zack knew better. "You endangered the mission and 16 other operatives, for the sake of one soldier." The man was yelling in his ear now, but he did not flinch, for Zack knew it was when he flinched that the first strike would always come. Though really it didn't matter as the painful blows were inevitable. But this was a small battle he knew he could win.  
  
"She was expendable. She was not necessary to complete the objective..." Zack mostly zoned out as they had gone over this lecture time and again. Even through the beating he let his mind wander onto other things, like how and when they would escape.  
  
"You will not stray from the mission again." A hard metallic object struck him across the face with such force, turning his head to the side. He corrected himself and faced forward again awaiting the next blow.  
  
"You will not assist X-5m again, unless she is essential to the completion of the objective." He was struck again, this time on the other cheek.  
  
And this is how it continued, each command followed by a swift blow. Zack righting himself each time, no matter the pain, awaiting the next order and the pain that followed it. He knew why he couldn't ever bring himself to just snap the c.o.'s neck. He couldn't escape alone, and every time they brought him here to the White Room he reaffirmed his vow to himself that one day he and Max and the others would be free.  
  
  
The flashback faded as the tryptophan was slowly absorbed into his bloodstream and made its way to his brain. Gradually his muscles stop seizing and he could fell himself once again regain control. He flexed his hands first, then, when he felt sure of himself, sat up holding his head in his hands.  
  
It was then that he realized he passed the guestroom and it was empty. Even then it took some time for his groggy head to put two and two together. There was no way Kat would leave them now, not with Max still recovering from the bullet shot by her own hand. Or would she? With a start he lifted his head, and the dull ache behind his eyebrows threatened to explode into a full out migraine. Currently he didn't care, pain always faded. "Where is Kat?"  
  
Bling looked up from his meal, "She left, about a min-"  
  
Zack cut him off, "Did she have Cole?"  
  
"Yeah, she said she wa-"  
  
"Fuck," Zack cursed, again cutting off Bling's sentence, not needing to hear the rest. Seeing his son fight earlier that morning... If they got a hold of Cole's DNA…He would be better off dead than in Manticore.  
  
*****  
  
Logan could not bring himself to move after Zack made his exit. The experience left him shaken. After all the years living a life avenging the downtrodden, he had never fought so passionately for anything. But that was not what left him in this state. As they had locked defiant glares, Zack's hand began to tremor. The muscle convulsions moved slowly up his arm, so much so that Logan could watch their progress. It was like an infectious disease, spreading throughout his body. It was obvious he was trying to fight them back, but to no avail. Zack did not want to break the eye contact first, but he could no longer stand on his unstable legs. Forced to seek out his tryptophan he stalked angrily out of the room.  
  
When Max's body began to seize, Logan saw her weakness, it made him want to hold her and protect her. But seeing Zack this way, weak and vulnerable, truly shook him to the core. For all the time he had known Zack, he saw no dents in the armor. To see Zack lose control of his own body was like seeing Superman falter at the sight of kryptonite. Such a strong man brought to his knees by something so trivial.  
  
He put the thought past him, as he saw Max's hand twitch. Her eyes moving below their lids, her brows knitted in a worried frown. It looked as though she were trying to awaken. Quickly, he was by her side and holding her hand, imagining his strength flow into her, much as Zack's blood did moments ago. Some nights he almost forgot that she was not invincible, sending her off to do some grunt work. All this time he had taken her assistance for granted, it was part of the deal. He would find the others, she would do his leg work. But he didn't care about the deal anymore. He just wanted her to be okay.  
  
If she was trying to awaken before, she had given up now, as her body once again fell slack. She was probably just dreaming. Besides, she needed her rest now, no point in waking her up, she would rise when she healed.  
  
*****  
  
Back in the city, Raven began to construct her plan of action in her mind. She had given Major Mathews the objective of her mission, not needing to give him specifics, but now she wondered what exactly she would do. This was unlike any mission she had been sent out on before. Previous objectives were mainly assassinations or reconnaissance, in both cases all timeframes and locations were specified clearly. Now she was alone, to plan and plot by herself. But she was up to the challenge. She needed to find out what Lydecker was talking about that morning. He was speaking of their genetic codes, and it's source. Ever since the beginning she believed that she and the rest of the X-6 were spawned from each other. Only until she was ten, when her operations began, did she begin to question her origins.  
  
As a Manticore operative she would pose as the child of two undercover military officers. Being in the real world she realized that every child had a mother and a father. Every baby was born from its mother's womb. This all left her confused but she never brought it up. How could she? With the rigorous training schedule at Manticore there was no time to ask questions. In the classrooms speaking of any kind besides a direct response to the instructor was expressly forbidden. How would she inquire about her origins without being struck down for her insolence? There were no questions asked at Manticore, only commands given.  
  
She admitted to herself when she was assigned this mission that she never wanted to avenge Lydecker. That was not the purpose of seeking out the X-5. What she wanted was answers. Like why were the X-5 loose anyway? What exactly did the world give them that they would prefer over Manticore? At Manticore there was structure, there was purpose, there was order. In the world outside the chain-linked fence chaos ruled, with people aimlessly living their lives. If they weren't helpless drifters living their lives the only way they knew how, they were predators who took advantage of all the others. Raven had seen so many cruel and heartless people, typically the people she was sent to assassinate.  
  
Raven was proud of the work she had done, assassinating tyrannical leaders, killing terrorists, effectively foiling their plans. Once she and the rest of her squad broke up a drug deal taking down a whole ring of smugglers. Her short life had more purpose and fulfillment than the hundreds of people she had done recon on. Why would anyone want to escape the life of a savior?  
  
*****  
  
On still unstable legs Zack put on his jacket, grabbed his helmet and once again left the apartment. This time he wouldn't let Kat take Cole to Manticore, he would demand that his son stay. There was no other option. Even on his motorcycle Kat was gaining ground on him, no doubt. His arms and legs had still not recovered from before. Every turn he made, every gear he shifted, sent intense throbbing protests up his limbs. That was the strongest seizure he had to date and it couldn't have been at a worse time.  
  
Just as he locked horns with Logan he could feel it begin. First his toes would always go numb, then it would feel like he needed to shed his skin. Then the tremors, god damn those tremors, they would inch slowly up his body. He dreaded that feeling. The shivers would swallow him whole and he could feel himself lose power over of his own muscles. As much as he hated how he could not control those around him, he loathed it even more when he couldn't keep his own body in check.  
  
The last thing he wanted to do was reveal his only true weakness to his competition. But Logan was being unreasonable. He couldn't just back down and let Logan think he had won that round. Zack had tried to clench his fists and strain his muscles to calm their misfired nerves, but his weakening body forced him to leave the room. He would not collapse in front of Logan.  
  
The sun was about to lose its battle today, dying in a red blaze of glory. Soon the night would cloak the streets and Zack would be wrapped in its darkness. As much as he welcomed the cool breeze of night, he knew he was running out of time. After dark he would have no hope of finding Kat and his son and he refused to run to Logan for help. It didn't matter that Logan's computer could probably narrow the possibilities of where Kat was an exponential amount. It was all a question of pride now, and in this Zack refused to falter.  
  
She would be headed toward a military facility. There were only three in and around the city that had received military convoys. One of which was under Colonel Sanders, that is, until Lydecker put a blade through his chest. He would check there first. Deck probably gutted the place and was now using it for his own purposes. Manticore setting up camp just outside Seattle was even more reason for Max to leave. Zack would force that fact down Logan's throat if he proved his suspicions right.  
  
His muscles began to involuntarily tense up again as he sped off in the direction he hoped he would find Kat. He tried to focus his thoughts but he could feel his toes go numb again. Four pills could not even soothe the soreness of his muscles afterward, let alone ease the seizures now. That was a not a good sign. He needed to find something new, and he needed to find it quickly. With a grimace he tensed his shoulder anticipating another onslaught of tremors. It would be dangerous trying to ride while his body lost control but he was edging on desperate now. 


	14. A Matter of Trust

As Raven rifled down the darkened streets she caught a familiar scent. Zack had recently passed through here and seemed to be heading north. She followed the trail, losing it a few times, then easily picking it up again. Only fifteen minutes later Zack's scent was becoming more intense, she was catching up. From the odors that followed along Zack's trail she could tell that he was on a motorcycle, but in the cluttered streets it was easy for a bike to catch up to it's motorized brethren. Especially when powered by Manticore legs.  
  
Something else was in the air. It, too, intensified as she followed the path, though at a much faster rate. Much like animals, she could smell slight changes in a human's body, and what her nose picked up on made no sense. Zack was having a seizure, but continued to ride his motorcycle. What would drive him to do such a foolishly dangerous thing? she pondered. Most of the troops that were after him were pulling back from the city to regroup after the fall of Lydecker. And those who remained could not know where to begin to search for him. If he feared her and her siblings were on his trail he would have left earlier that morning. So what exactly was Zack doing taking such a risk? Like herself he was trained as a soldier, he would know the difference between a calculated risk and a pointless one.  
  
More questions and still no answers. It was beginning to frustrate Raven to no end. After a few more minutes she could hear the motor of Zack's cycle, and minutes after that he was in sight. It was obvious he was an experienced biker but his movements were awkward and strained. His muscles were seizing but he continued to ride and so she continued to follow. The sound of his engine easily hid the soft pedaling of her bike. Some thirty minutes later, there was a faint noise up ahead. Soon the buildings of the city began to give way to sparse groves of trees, and a large military complex lay before them. As they approached Raven could recognize the sound now, it was the blades of a helicopter slicing through the air. Zack too must have heard it, for his shaking body perked up, and he leaned low to his bike, apparently wanting to become more aerodynamic so as to slice precious moments of his time.  
  
Further down the road she saw with her hawk eye night vision what must have been the purpose for his hurried ride. The one known as Kat was in the back seat of the helicopter, the young boy she called Cole was sitting by the window. Apparently not wanting to waste any time, Zack tried to leap from his bike as he pushed it aside and dash off toward the helicopter. The operative word was tried. His legs did not obey his command and he crashed his bike. His body was flung meters ahead, and landed in a heap. No graceful landing of the Manticore born.  
  
Even after this Raven could not believe what she saw. Zack's legs were shaking, obviously not of his own will, but he continued to claw at the road, dragging his body along. Inch by inch he moved along the ground. Did he really expect to get a hold of Kat and Cole that way. His desperation sickened her. No one she knew would sink to such frantic attempts.  
  
"Kat! Cole!" he screamed the names over and over again as though quantity could some how compensate for the blanketing sounds of the helicopter blades. He even continued to yell as, off in the distance, the helicopter slowly lifted from the ground. Focusing her eyes again, Raven looked to find the little boy straighten his back and, with large eyes, peering out the window towards Zack. The boy had heard, raising the chubby little hand of a three year old to the window in a gesture of goodbye. It was then that the tiny shackles and tiny chains that bound his wrists were revealed. Kat never heard his cries, but if she did she chose to ignore them.  
  
Finally when the helicopter was out of sight, Zack lay on his back, his whole body convulsing now. With unsteady hands he reached toward his pocket to retrieve the tryptophan that was his only relief. However, every time he got close his hand would jerk again and the pills would once again be out of reach. Raven could not watch any longer. Tentatively, she approached him, like a timid animal being beckoned out by food. As she came nearer he could feel her presence and his head fell, rather than turn, in her direction. She slowly stepped closer and in his eyes she could see dread. Raven reveled in that look when it was in the eyes of a drug lord or a dictator. That last glance of fear that acknowledged her as their death. But in Zack's proud eyes, it did not fit.  
  
Avoiding direct eye contact she went over to him and lifted his seizing body with ease, he could do nothing to stop her, even if he wanted to. After laying him beside his bike in the ditch beside the road, she reached for what his shaky arm could not retrieve before. Withdrawing the pills she lifted his head up and placed two to his mouth. Though still somewhat untrusting of her actions he accepted the pills and after much difficulty swallowed them down, motioning for more. Six pills later, a sheen of sweat coating him from his efforts, he let his eyes close waiting for his muscles to calm. They stayed there the rest of the night, Raven kneeling by his side, studying the face of her father.  
  
*****  
  
"Logan we gotta go," Bling's voice made it past the door and cut into his dreams like a machete through palm leaves, "Your appointment is in an hour."  
  
Opening his eyes he realized he had fell asleep in his chair, his head resting on his arm on the bed, his right hand still clutching Max's. After a few moments he looked up to find her brown eyes staring at him.  
  
"Morning sunshine," her voice was friendly, and a small smile crept to her lips but she was still tired.  
  
"Hey," he smiled back, relieved to find her conscious, "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm healing okay, still a little sore in the shoulder though." Lying back down on her back, she tested her own theory, rolling her shoulder and wincing at the effort. "I'll be fine after one more day."  
  
"Don't push yourself..."  
  
"Actually I was thinking of pumping some weights and sparring with the big boys at the gym." She flashed him that little smile, "… I think Bling is waiting for you."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What appointment is it?"  
  
"It's a yearly routine us humans do since our bodies don't heal themselves." He couldn't explain why he lied to her. Probably because if he said allowed that he had a chance of walking again, he would probably jinx the whole procedure. After taking a shower, and regular morning ablutions he came out of the washroom to find Max still laying on her back, eyes closed.  
  
Thinking Max was asleep, he wheeled to the door but just before he opened it she spoke.  
  
"Logan. What were you fighting about?" It caught him a little off guard.  
  
"With who?"  
  
"You and Zack were fighting earlier, what were you fighting about?"  
  
"Nothing major," again he lied, but what else could he say? That they were fighting over possession of her? Nothing more left her lips, so he opened the door and left.  
  
Though she knew he was out of earshot, she said it aloud anyways, testing if she had the guts to admit it out loud, even to an empty room. A lonely tear fell from the corner of her eye, "Logan, Zack is right. I have to leave Seattle."  
  
*****  
  
What was wrong with him anyways? The X-5 she had worked with at Manticore never went through anything like this. All through the night he would begin to shudder and wake up just to take down more pills and fall asleep again. Surely this couldn't be right. It got to the point where he didn't care that she was a threat, only that hers was the hand that supplied him with his tryptophan.  
  
Now the small vile was empty, the sun was beginning to rise and Zack had still not fully awakened. Opting to use his motorcycle, which wasn't too badly damaged, she loaded him up and headed toward the city. Raven rationalized that if she followed his trail back to where he came from she could find his stash of pills. It was a more daunting task than she had imagined. She always followed, never having to trace back and though her olfactory sense was enhanced she did not have the skill of a bloodhound. Barely able to follow the fading trail, she strayed several times from the path.  
  
*****  
  
Awakening from the anesthetics, Logan never felt more relaxed in his life. The clock across the room showed it was no more than thirty minutes from when he went under the knife. That couldn't be right, he thought, shaking his head as though that might advance the clock to its proper time.  
  
Sitting up in the bed he looked down at the two bumps under the covers that were his legs. Did he dare try to test them so early? Slowly, with a hesitant hand he reached out to his right leg. Nothing. He could feel his leg like a lump of meat under his hand, but his leg registered nothing.  
  
"Fuck," he cursed silently to the empty room, and then a smile of defeat came to his face. [I]Why do I try and kid myself like this? You're never gonna walk Logan…[/I]  
  
"Ah, I see you're up already." The doctor came in smiling, obviously misunderstanding the reason for Logan's own grin.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"The procedure was a success. Dr. Marion said that was her easiest yet."  
  
"What are you talking about? My legs still don't work. I can't feel anything."  
  
"Logan, you have to be patient. We didn't repair your old cells. You must understand that the stem cells we injected into your spine need time to grow and take over the functions of the nerve cells they are meant to replace. Currently they are still undifferentiated. You just need to give it time."  
  
Logan laughed at himself for his impatience, he was never one to wait. "I'm sorry Sam, it's just…I want my legs back, I really want my life back."  
  
The doctor nodded his head in sympathy, "Completely understandable. Now, as for what you should do now. First, you have to tell your boss to lay off for a while, because you need a lot of rest. Also, you'll still need Bling around to work out your legs. And then there is this…" Out of his right pocket he produced a small bottle of clear liquid. "This is a combination of hormones and neurotransmitters…"  
  
"Are you trying to take credit for my years of work Dr. Carr?" A woman stepped into the room, a metallic clipboard in hand.  
  
"Logan, this is Dr. Marion. She is an accomplished neurosurgeon who has helped develop and test the stem cell theory which has brought us all here today."  
  
She stepped to the foot of the bed. "Oh stop it Dr. Carr, I'm blushing." Her sarcasm reminded Logan of Max. "But really I don't think he needs to hear my credentials."  
  
Logan studied the woman's face. How could she be such an accomplished surgeon when she looked like she was barely in her thirties? Her straight blond hair was held back in a clip, her eyes were a soft green. He watched as she pulled a stray lock of golden hair behind her ear.  
  
"Does our patient here speak?" she turned to Dr. Carr.  
  
"Yes," Logan blurted out, "I speak." He laughed at his horrible grammar.  
  
A smile came to her lips. "It's good to see you are fine now. I was just checking in, making sure Dr. Carr gave me some credit. Didn't want him taking all the glory. I just have to go make a few phone calls but I will be calling you later today checking in on your progress. It was nice meeting with you Mr. Cale."  
  
"Logan, please," Logan said before thinking.  
  
"Logan," she smiled again, then nodded her head to Dr. Carr, "Doctor." A quick turn on her heels and she was out of the room. Both men watched as she left. The room felt that much emptier with her gone.  
  
"Like I was saying," Dr Carr continued from where he left off, "this contains a combination of hormones and neurotransmitters that Dr. Marion developed that will speed up the process. Take a five milligram shot first thing in the morning, and another last thing before bed. Any more than that could overload your system. Don't worry too much if you miss one. The shots aren't absolutely necessary, but with them you will get more dramatic results. Any questions?"  
  
Logan looked around the room as if looking for a question to pluck out of the air, "Nope."  
  
"Then I'll have a nurse come in with your clothes and some needles you can take home with you. After that you're free to go."  
  
"Thank you Doctor."  
  
"It's the least I could do."  
  
Alone again in the cold sterile room, Logan idly fingered the small vile that was the key to his freedom from that chair.  
  
*****  
  
It was already nine when Zack finally regained enough awareness to question his situation. His legs were still numb so jumping off the speeding bike was not an option. He reached out to take control, trying to turn the bike in any other direction, but he did not have the strength for it. Besides this Manticore girl could have easily overpowered him. "Where are you bringing me?" The question drew out the first words he had ever heard leave his daughter's mouth.  
  
"I'm bringing you home." her voice was not steely and lifeless like he would have expected it to be. She seemed to be trying to comfort him.  
  
"I won't let you take me back there." Fear overtook him and he did not care if they crashed. Death was more favorable than Manticore. Pulling his arms up he tried to enclose them around her neck.  
  
With one hand she reached up, grabbed his wrist and pulled it away like a scarf. "Not Manticore, your home. You need more of your pills," she said, not at all phased that he just tried to snap her neck.  
  
"Do you really think I will tell you where my safe house is so you can go running back to Manticore with the location?"  
  
"Why would I run back there, when I just ran away?"  
  
Zack did not believe her words. "Convince me."  
  
"Don't you think you would be back at Manticore already? If I wanted to bring you back I would have done so last night. What tactical advantage do I have by saving your ass?" She spoke like an experienced soldier stuck in the body of a preteen. Which is exactly what she was.  
  
"You want to know where the others are." He tried to inflate his shaky voice with confidence.  
  
"I could have easily tortured the locations out of you. You would have had no time to forget the way we were all taught. Besides, if they wanted you back they would have gotten you. My brothers and sisters could have easily captured all the X-5 by now."  
  
Zack would have come back with another accusation but he grabbed his head as a stabbing pain exploded behind his eyes.  
  
"If you would rather die than trust me, now's your chance because you have no more pills."  
  
Another flare if pain shot up his spine before he could consider her words.  
  
"It doesn't matter. Even if you don't agree, I will find where you came from, your scent is leading me straight there. If you just tell me where it is directly we will get to your pills a lot faster." By the way he was leaning on her now Raven could tell the pain was too much for him to bear. She didn't bother to wait for an answer and continued to follow her nose. This safe house he spoke of must have been close because she could now smell Max in the air.  
  
*****  
  
Max had lay there, between Logan's sheets, for another hour or so after he had left. His warm scent still lingered on the soft cotton, and closing her eyes she could imagine his presence beside her. She looked around the room at the mahogany walls of Logan's bedroom, trying to burn the image on her brain. This was the safest place she had ever known and she didn't want to forget it when she left with Zack to Canada.  
  
Though she could have probably stayed there all day, hunger tugged at her belly and she got up, leaving the warm covers for the washroom. Approaching the mirror she saw that she was wearing one of Logan's long sleeved shirts, her own was probably too bloody. The dull ache still lingered as she tried to roll her shoulder once again. With an uncertain hand she reached up to pull back the neck of the shirt to reveal the large white bandage that covered the wound. Why had she done that anyway? Slowly, she pulled back the corner.  
  
[I]Why did I save that black haired girl? It wasn't like she was even really my daughter.[/I] She thought to herself as she pulled the bandage back revealing the slight discoloring that was the entry wound. Straight from the sci-fi movies her body healed at an impossible rate. Within the day that blemish would be gone, or so Max could only assume as she had never been damaged so badly before. Fully removing the bandage she wiped away the traces of blood and tossed it in the garbage. It was then that she noticed the handles all over the bathroom. Each one placed no more than an arms length from the next. Did Logan put these up? Why weren't they around the rest of the house? Max shook her head, [I] Typical. Why do men refuse to show any weaknesses?[/I] But truthfully Max could not blame him, if she lost the use of her legs in the blink of an eye…   
  
Again, her stomach growled in protest, for she had not eaten for more than a day now. Still in the clothes she had slept in, her own pants and Logan's shirt, she went to the kitchen straight for a bowl of cereal. On the way she passed the office. She could almost see Logan's outline in front of the computer.  
  
Despite her pleading stomach she absentmindedly stirred her cereal studying the apartments features. There was no doubt she was going to miss this place. If Logan would just give her one reason to stay...  
  
Her thought was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Peering through the peep hole she saw Zack's face, pale with eyelids half closed, but upon opening the door she was greeted by the intense blue grey eyes of the X-6 girl.  



	15. Little Lies

They had been four hours in the air now. Kat rubbed her hands, causing the chains to clink together. Around her son's wrists the shackles were rubbing red circles. She could still hear Zack's voice over and over in her mind: 'You would let them do that to our son?', 'I can't stop you', 'How will you defend Cole's humanity when they strip you of your own?' The phrases cycled over and over again in her mind. But what haunted her most was the desperation in Zack's voice as he screamed for her and her son.  
  
The blades were loud so she pretended not to hear, because she knew if she looked back she would have had doubts about what she was about to do. Couldn't he understand she had no choice?  
  
Below them, the forest they had been flying over for the last half hour was now opening to a clearing where a solitary building stood like an isolated temple.   
  
Manticore.  
  
Now her first apprehensions about her decision came to mind. What would lie for them beyond those grey walls? There would be no escape this time. ' 'How will you defend Cole's humanity when they strip you of your own?' '  
  
*****  
  
Max's first instinct was to kick the girl in the face, but she stopped herself. She wasn't capable of defeating the girl, there was no use in trying, so she turned her attentions to Zack. "What did you do to him?"  
  
"Max, he needs more of his pills. I did nothing to him. Please, trust me." Max still stood blocking the door, obviously not trusting of this 'daughter' who had just tried to kill her a day before. "What can I do to convince you that I have nothing to do with Manticore any longer? I don't want that life."  
  
A war raged in Max's mind, but there was truly no point in fighting the girl. If she was affiliated with Manticore there was nothing Max could do now. Keeping Zack alive was what was important at the moment. "Lay him on the couch." Max's eyes still lingered on her with suspicion. Seeing how she tenderly lay him down on the couch, Max was satisfied enough to go to the washroom and retrieve the stash of pills she left at Logan's. There were only two left.  
  
"What happened to him?" Max knelt beside Zack holding his shoulders as he began to shake again.  
  
"I don't know. He just started to shake when he was trying to chase down Kat and Cole. They were taken to Manticore."  
  
Sorrow pulled at her heart, but only for a minute. Kat said she would go, and she did. Max had to concentrate on her situation now. Zack lay before her, with such tremors that she had never experienced before. This X-6 knelt at her side, her voice filled with concern but could she be trusted?  
  
They fed him the pills but he didn't have enough control to swallow. "He has been struggling all night. He took down half a bottle of these and is still like this."  
  
"I don't have anymore... half a bottle?" An image floated to her conscious thoughts, of a weakening Brin, her face wrinkled with age, spots forming on her hands. 'Zack couldn't develop the syndrome. He was too strong. ' her mind refused to accept the possibility.  
  
Across the way there was a sound outside the door and the handle turned. It was Logan and Bling. 'Finally ', Max thought in the recesses of her mind, 'Logan can make this all better. '  
  
The smile that was on Logan's face disappeared with one glance at what lay before him in his living room. "What is this? You..." He never expected to see the girl for a while again, let alone in his apartment. Zack was right, the X-6 had found them.  
  
Tracing his line of sight she saw his concern. "She brought him here. Logan, Zack is seizing. He needs something, anything." From the pleading look in her eyes he could tell that she wanted him to fix the situation. But there was nothing he could do.  
  
"Then I have to break into the hospital and get some more tryptophan."  
  
"You can't just go in there the day after you were shot, and run around stealing things." Though he spoke to Max he kept his eyes on the girl as though she might pounce on him at any moment. Her hair was still tucked tightly into a ponytail, just as it was yesterday morning.  
  
"I don't think we have a choice here..."  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"Zack is going to die, he has been like this all night but she took care of him. I have a feeling she is on our side here."  
  
"A feeling? This girl-"  
  
"My name is Raven." The interruption was sudden and caught everyone off guard. There was something human in her voice that Logan didn't expect.  
  
"Logan," Bling quietly interjected into the silence, "What about your shots? The doctor said it contained neurotransmitters."  
  
Zack pulled his knees up into fetal position as his body continued to betray him.  
  
"Give it to me," Max demanded rather harshly. Logan, filled with doubt, handed over the bottle, warm from being in his pocket. "I need a needle."  
  
Bling reached behind Logan into the pack that hung on his wheelchair, retrieving a small needle.  
  
"Please let this work," she mumbled to herself and she filled the needle with fluid. She pointed the tip to the ceiling and flicked it, pushing the plunger until all the air was out of the chamber. "Raven, could you please."  
  
Silently the X-6 obeyed, unfolding Zack's body from its compressed position. His held his arms tight to his chest, tears of pain streaming from his eyes, but with her strength she easily extended his limb. Finally the crook of his arm was exposed and Max plunged the needle into the very veins that saved her own life, infusing the clear liquid into Zack's blood.  
  
Max didn't care about Raven's presence now. For all she knew a tact team from Manticore could be closing in on them. Even a squadron of X-6 could be swooping in to bring them back to Manticore, but right now it didn't matter. If Zack died what would happen to the rest of the X-5? He was the only one who knew where the others were. She pushed back the strands of hair that were plastered to his face with his sweat.  
  
Finally the concoction took effect and Zack's breathing became less labored, his muscles relaxed and Max let out a breath that she wasn't aware she was holding.  
  
*****  
  
The helicopter landed with a slight bump and Kat could see a group of soldiers awaiting their arrival at the edge of the landing pad. They were perfectly aligned in two rows of three, each row exactly two meters apart. Cole held tight to Kat's hand as they stepped down from the helicopter. The clinking of the chains that bound their hands and feet grew more noticeable now as the blades of the helicopter slowed.  
  
The soldiers stared forward with empty eyes, as Kat and Cole were led toward the compound. In the pit of her stomach, Kat felt a knot of fear. She looked on the soldiers, their heads were shaved in the typical military style. Stripped of the only thing that could have hinted at individuality, they stood like soulless shells of humans. No, not even human, manticore. At a deliberate pace she was lead between them and as she came closer, her heart skipped a beat.  
  
"Brin?" she ran to the first girl in the left line. Reaching up with a tentative hand she tried to touch her sister's face, but her eyes darted to the next soldier and the next. "Alic? Von?" Turning around to face the other line she saw more X-5: Dawn, Hawk, Oz. They were her family but the stared past her, through her very being, and didn't even show a glimmer of recognition. She expected as much from the ones who never made it past the perimeter that fateful night, they continued to live their whole lives as soldiers the memory probably wiped from their minds. But Brin…   
  
Kat looked back at Brin, but the tears welling in her eyes distorted her baby sister's image. She clutched her son tight, as they were lead further into the heart of the concrete beast known as Manticore. The sterile walls pressed in on her, and she could feel her own soul quiver with fear.  
  
*****  
  
Within minutes Zack was standing, walking around to stretch out the muscles that had been tense for so long. It was strange though. He should have been too sore to even move but he was up and about punching and kicking at the air like a kick boxer preparing for a fight. Max stared at his movements, a little shocked at what she saw.  
  
Zack's movements were uncommonly quick, even for an X-5. The fast mock-blows rivaled the speed and agility of an X-6. "Damn, Logan, what is that stuff?" he asked, "I've never felt this charged before." Just to get his point across he darted to the other side of the room with such speed he was only a blur. A smile crept to his lips, it was obvious he was enjoying the feeling.  
  
"It's just something the doctors gave me for my back."  
  
Max was confused, "Why does it have neurotransmitters in it?"  
  
There was the slightest of hesitations as Logan considered what to tell her. "I was having spasms again, and he gave me these shots."  
  
"But that doesn't make any sense-"  
  
He cut off her so she couldn't voice her opinion. "I didn't pay to much attention to what he was saying. He just mentioned they were experimental, and there was a zero percent chance of side effects. I trust Sam."  
  
A more timid Max responded, "Okay." Logan didn't mean to cut her off so severely but he couldn't let her call him on his bluff.  
  
"Well, whatever it is, I've never felt stronger." After a pause he laid challenging eyes on Raven. "Hit me."  
  
"Zack, what are you doing?" He paid Max's inquiry no attention.  
  
"Hit me," Zack said stepping closer to the X-6. Raven looked to Max, then to Logan, and even sent a questioning look to Bling. She didn't know Zack at all and by the confused expressions they offered her it was apparent they didn't know him too well either. But she wouldn't back down from a challenge. If he wanted to be hit, she would give him what he wanted. Though, granted, she wouldn't hit him too hard.  
  
With a quick step she aimed for his stomach. To her surprise he caught her hand. She tried again with the other hand and he easily deflected her aim. 'What was in that shot? 'she asked herself and she tried to punch him again but to no avail. Even though she was now attacking with all the speed Manticore had given her, Zack, who she had beaten easily just a day before, was now seemingly impossible to hit. To mix it up she even threw in a couple kicks, which he easily blocked with his forearm. 'How was this possible? The X-6 were built stronger and faster... '  
  
She barely had time to duck as Zack's fist came at her face. Taken so off guard she fell to the ground, a look of fear in her eyes. Raven had never had such an experience before. Even among the X-6, no one reached her level of hand to hand combat.  
  
"Zack, that's enough!" Max stepped between them, her body blocking Zack's fierce glare. Of all the bystanders in the room she was the only one willing to intercede. "What are you trying to prove?"  
  
"Now she knows."  
  
"Knows what?" Max said, helping the girl to her feet. The experience left Raven stunned and it was in this state that she actually looked her age.  
  
"She is no longer a threat."  
  
*****  
  
The rest of the day and well into the night, Raven kept a wary eye on Zack, though knew the reasons for his actions. Since her credibility was questionable, Zack proving himself stronger than her would ensure that she kept in line. Essentially it was all about proving his dominance. Raven accepted that as she herself went through the trials of becoming a leader and understood the importance of dominance. Maybe she truly was her father's daughter.  
  
Max, though still suspicious, was much kinder. Asking her with a gentle voice, questions about Manticore, Brin, and Lydecker. She explained how she had seen a recently captured 5b. That agent was currently being reintegrated into the program. At that a cloud of mourning passed over Max's normally fiery eyes.  
  
"What about Lydecker?" the one they called Logan asked.  
  
"He was shot in the heart and his lung was also punctured, but he is recovering." She tentatively lifted her food and sniffed it. Satisfied that it contained no drugs she placed it in her mouth. For some reason she knew that they wouldn't hurt her but it was force of habit.  
  
"How is that possible?" Logan pressed on.  
  
"At Manticore they are currently growing him new organs. He should be fully recovered in a couple months."  
  
"Who's leading the ranks?" Now it was Max.  
  
"Currently it's Major Mathews. Which should be good for you considering he never thought the X-5 were a top priority. He believes that the search is draining Manticore of much needed funds." Raven placed another forkful in her mouth. It seemed no one else was eating, but she had never tasted such flavorful food before.  
  
"So then the X-5 are safe?" Logan said, a smile of relief coming to his face. One reached the lips of Max as well.  
  
"For now," Zack locked eyes with Logan. Though he answered for Raven, it was what she was thinking anyways. 'Why had they stayed in the states so long? Manticore had operations all over the world but they were concentrated in America. Why live so close to the den of the beast? '  
  
"How did you escape?"  
  
"Major Mathews believes I am on a mission to seek out and recover the X-5." They all tensed at her words.  
  
"How do we know you aren't trying to complete that objective now?" Max's voice was strained.  
  
"None of you will trust me will you? I left Manticore; to seek out the one's who escaped. Not to capture you but to join you. There must be something better than a soldier's life..." Though the words spewed from her mouth, she rarely believed what she was saying. But she had to gain their trust so they would lead her to the others.  
  
"Do you have a tracker on you?" Logan asked, and they all looked to her for the answer. It seemed that none of them had thought about that until now. 'Strange, it should have been their first concern. '  
  
"No. Though, considering the X-5, placing tracking devices in us would make sense. However if anyone were to find a correlation between our locations and the murders and assassinations, it would not only endanger ourselves but Manticore as a whole. Besides, if someone wanted Manticore technology, they would hunt us down with ease if they could simply call up our positions from the nearest laptop." She could tell no one was fully accepting of her explanation but it was true. Lydecker would rather have his prototypes running free than in the clutches of some foreign government.  
  
The rest of the night continued on, with them asking her questions, her replying with the most honest answers she was willing to give. It was around seven when Bling left for his own apartment, and close to midnight, when Logan finally retired to his room. The tension had begun to fade, and it almost seemed that Max and Zack trusted her reassurances that all she wanted was to be free of Manticore. It probably also had something to do with Zack and his new found strength. Major Mathews would be interested to hear that the X-5 had the potential to become just as strong as the X-6. With them reintegrated into the program, they could handle more operations, and Manticore would get the cash flow needed to bring it to stage 3.  
  



	16. Losing Humanity

After Raven confirmed Zack's suspicions of a new Manticore base, the dreaded topic came up.  
  
"We need to leave for Canada soon." Zack's words cut to her heart, but she knew it was for the best. For her, for Logan, for the friends she had made here in Seattle. If Manticore knew she was there, it would be a matter of time before they found her friends and used them to get to her, by any means necessary. Even if it were pure coincidence that they landed on her doorstep, they would find her eventually and she couldn't risk her friends like that.  
  
"I know."  
  
"Don't fight me on this one Max…" Zack was taken aback, he had been expecting a long argument, "What?"  
  
"I just need a little time, you know, to give everyone a heads up." She tried to make her voice strong, but a sorrow still seeped through. It may be best, but she didn't have to like it.  
  
Zack caught the hesitation in her voice and his eyes filled with understanding. Though she didn't mean to, Max looked away, her cheeks were hot. "We'll give you a day. It'd be best if I took Raven to my apartment until then. The sooner we leave, the sooner our scent can disperse, in case Raven's siblings decide to come looking for her."  
  
"A day should be all I need."  
  
*****  
  
Logan woke the next morning the instant the sun brushed his face. This was it. He had taken his first injection the night before and the doctor had said the results would be dramatic. So, this was it. As he pulled himself up into a sitting position, his breath caught in his throat. He felt the sheets against his legs.  
  
Throwing back the covers he stared at his lower limbs in disbelief. With an uncertain hand he reached out to touch his thigh, praying to whatever higher power might be listening that what he felt before wasn't just a ghost sensation. But it was true. As his hand made contact with his leg, the limb also registered the feeling. Tears brimmed in his eyes as a smile came to his face.  
  
He couldn't move them just yet, but it was a start. Still marveling at the sensations in his legs, he went to the washroom to take a shower. It seemed that his range of sensation also encompassed temperature and he stayed in the shower for an extra ten minutes just to feel the warm water on his legs. It was amazing.  
  
When he got out, he put on his clothes and took his second shot. His room filled with sunshine as though the world itself was telling him that today would be a good day, and that anything was possible.  
  
"Logan!" Bling called from the front door.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be right out." Rolling out of his room, he realized his apartment was noticeably empty. All the genetically engineered super humans were gone. 'Probably out for a walk or something '. He dismissed their absence and any other concerns that came to his mind. They would be fine, he reassured himself. Besides, this was a good day so far, and he didn't want to bring that crashing down with unfounded worries before the sun reached its peak. Returning to the burdens of Eyes Only would do that so enough.  
  
The workout went as any other day, but this time Logan could feel Bling working his legs. It even got to the point where he was aware that his muscles were moving.  
  
"What's the status?" Bling asked, eager to know how the treatments were working.  
  
"I can feel everything you're doing. It's incredible, I can feel my legs working."  
  
"Any movement yet?"  
  
"Not yet, but with these shots I have a feeling it will be soon. Sam told me that I would be walking by the end of the week."  
  
"So…" one of those knowing smiles came to Bling's face, "How does Max feel about the whole situation?"  
  
"I haven't told her yet."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"I didn't want to say anything cause I didn't want to be so sure and get my own hopes up."  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
Logan laughed. Bling always caught him in a lie. "I guess I'm just nervous. What'll happen when I'm walking again? There will be no more barriers, no more excuses…"  
  
"I couldn't tell ya," Bling said finishing off the last of the reps, "It's up to you and Max to decide that."  
  
They finished up the workout and Bling left again for the day. It amused Logan to no end that his legs once again had sensation as he took another shower and changed into a normal outfit. He didn't even mind that his legs were sore from the workout. In fact he reveled in the sensation.  
  
Finally getting over himself, he headed to his computer to continue his life as Eyes Only, scouring the informant net for anything new to investigate. As he approached his office he noticed something was propped up on his keyboard between the keys. It was a note with his name on it.  
  
It read:  
  
Hey Logan,  
  
I figured this would be the best place  
to put this so I know you would get it.  
We've all gone to Zack's apartment so we  
don't draw any more attention to your place.  
  
I'll swing by around 8. We need to talk.  
  
Max  
  
*****  
  
Max walked down the sloping entrance to Jam Pony. The walls of this place looked so different when she knew she would never see them again. They were still covered in posters and graffiti. Bikes still hung from ceiling hooks, lockers by the far wall, change room in the back, but now it was different. This was the home she was going to leave behind.  
  
"Two day weekends were a pre-pulse thing." Normal barked at her with his dry humor.  
  
"Needed to brush up on my history. To be all I could be for this job." She threw her own smart ass remark back at him.  
  
"Excuse me missy, but you can't just waltz in here without an explanation. Those lackeys you've called your friends have been trying to cover for you all weekend with everything from fatal injury to long lost relatives."  
  
Max smiled at the irony of that comment. "They got it about right."  
  
"You're fired."  
  
"Miss you too Normal. Have a nice day." She kept on walking to the lockers in the back to try and find Original Cindy and the others.  
  
"Hey, boo," Original Cindy's voice came from behind her. "Haven't heard from you in a while. Original Cindy was beginning to wonder if you finally got some booty with that boy toy shuga daddy of yours and decided there were better places to be then this dump."  
  
"I heard that." Normal yelled from his little booth.  
  
"Good," O.C. called back.  
  
"I've just been around."  
  
"You mean around the bases and back."  
  
Max felt her cheeks grow warm, "I gotta tell you something…"  
  
"Shoot. Original Cindy is all ears for you."  
  
"Hey Max." It was Sketchy, riding down the entrance ramp past the 'No riding bikes indoors' sign. "Where've you been? I needed someone to tell me to not make an ass of myself yesterday."  
  
Max laughed, "But you would have made an ass of yourself anyways."  
  
"Ah, yes, but it means so much more when someone tells me not to."  
  
"Max," Herbal followed behind, "In mine eye, me was wondering if God had found you a better place den dis, and you were holdin' out on us."  
  
"Where would I find a better place than this? But I gotta tell you guys something." They all became concerned when they heard the tone of her voice. "I have to leave for Canada."  
  
"What? Why?" The words were barely out of Max's mouth when Original Cindy questioned them.  
  
"My aunt, in Canada. She just had a stroke and I need to go help take care of her." No one responded, in fact they all stared at her dumbfounded, so she continued, "I don't know how long I'll be gone. Hopefully for only a little while, but I'll be back soon I'm sure." Deep down she knew that was a lie, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them that she would be gone for good. There was no way she could explain that.  
  
"When'd you figure this?" Sketchy asked, that worried look once again returning to his face.  
  
"The other day. I got a call."  
  
"Original Cindy didn't know her boo had Canuck blood running through her veins." If she had only known what was really pumping through Max's body.  
  
"So, be dere a party at the Crash tonight, to bless your trip with sweet flowing booze and Bob Marley singing farewell?" Herbal was already planning the activities in his head.  
  
"I can't," Max said, with honest regret in her voice, "I'm leaving tonight and I still have to pack."  
  
"You're just gonna up and leave us then?" If Sketchy didn't stop furrowing his brows soon he was going to pull something.  
  
"Don't make it sound like I wanna do this."  
  
"Now if the slackers over there would make some pickups I might be inclined to give them their paychecks!" Normal interrupted the moment.  
  
"How about we all drop by the apartment. That way Mr. Bossman over there can pay us for slacking." Original Cindy offered.  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Max said, fighting back some tears. She was gonna miss this place but she would have time to cry later.  
  
"Don't leave, without Original Cindy's good bye." O.C.'s eyes were starting to shine with tears.  
  
"Is it bad that I'm thinking what I'm thinking right now?" Leave it to Sketchy to break the emotional tension. Both Max and Original Cindy rolled their eyes and walked away, leaving a view Sketchy could not help but stare at.  
  
Herbal slapped him upside his head.  
  
"What?"  
  
But all the response he got was Herbal smiling and shaking his head.  
  
*****  
  
"It is very impressive." Major Mathews said as they watched Cole through a one sided mirror, fighting four of the X-6 and holding his own. "Very impressive indeed."  
  
"Get him out of there!" Kat cried, hoping some of the desperation she poured into her plea would make it past this man's toughened exterior. She tried to take a step closer to the looking glass but was held tight by two X-6s who both had a firm grip on her still shackled arms.  
  
"All other previous attempts to naturally breed X-groups have ended in still births, horrible disfigurements, vegetable children…Even our first endeavors at creating the X-6 from preexisting X-5 genes produced strange things. In fact the very first X-6 was a stillborn humanoid with a dolphin's skin, tigers eyes, and fins on her fore arms."  
  
"Why are you telling me this?"  
  
Now Cole was frantically punching and clawing at the mirror. He knew someone was beyond the glass. Behind him two of the X-6 were laying unconscious, another was gripping her head and the fourth was wiping away the blood that spilled from a cut above his eye.  
  
"I just find it amazing that you were naturally able to produce this child who will be our greatest soldier yet. His genetic code will be extensively studied. That is, after we break him."  
  
"No! Lydecker said you would make him normal!" Kat's hopes and dreams for her son were shattered. Max and Zack were right, how could she have ever doubted them? Manticore did everything for its own purposes. Why did she ever let herself think otherwise?  
  
"And destroy that genetic masterpiece? After a moment of lust and nine months of gestation you have created what Manticore had been striving for during it's fifty some years of existence."  
  
"You son of a bitch."  
  
At that moment Cole leapt at them, using his shoulder to try and break through. The two X-6s that were on the floor had now regained consciousness and all four were advancing on him again. The glass was reinforced and though it cracked it held strong. Pushing a button, Major Mathews spoke into an intercom, "That's enough. Use your tasers." At his command all four produced the weapons and made quick work of the boy. Cole's body lay convulsing on the floor. Even after he was down, they continued to shock him and Kat could only look on in horror, her throat too dry to speak. 'What have I done? '  
  
"Major, you have an incoming message." Another man had entered the room but Kat didn't take notice of him.  
  
"I'll be there," he said, then turning to the two X-6s in the room, "Quince, Fox. Strap her down in white room 510. She's to be re-indoctrinated immediately."  
  
An overwhelming misery came over her as she watched her son, his small muscles seizing as the X-6 continued to send volts of electricity into his limp body. She could not find the strength to fight as the ones called Quince and Fox dragged her to that dreaded room. 


	17. Unleashed

[authors note] in the last part of this chapter i have incorporated music into the story. it is "be your man" by the odds. if you haven't heard it, listening to it (i think) will really add to the drama of the scene since i did write the whole scene with this song in mind). but i have also provided the lyrics in between '' and ''. so please enjoy.  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
"So you're leaving tonight?" Kendra had to confirm what she had just been told.  
  
"Yeah," said Max, packing her clothes away in a bag. She didn't dare look Kendra in the eye. Not because the constant threat of tears, but because the last time she saw her roommate was in the arms of her own personal anti-Christ. After much debating Max had decided it was for the best if she didn't get involved at all. If all Deck knew about Kendra was that she was willing to get it on with him, she would be all the safer.  
  
"And you're leaving for good?"  
  
"Not for good, I don't think."  
  
"But without you, how will I handle the unruly tenants who try and steal all the hot water and electricity?" Kendra said with a half-smile, still not fully believing that Max was leaving for Canada.  
  
"I'm sure you'll manage, I mean you were here long before I was. Could you hand me that shirt over there?" Kendra lifted the shirt with both hands and seemed to be feeling the material between her fingers.  
  
"Knock, knock," Original Cindy was at the door, the rest of the Jam Pony crew following behind.  
  
"So you're really serious about this then? You're gonna leave us to deal with Normal by ourselves? I mean there is only so long you can mock the man." Sketchy's joking was the only way he knew how to handle this distraught feeling.  
  
"I have a feeling that time will never come."  
  
"Max, I love ya like a sistah and may the big Man in the sky guide you on your way. And in the words of the great Bob Marley, 'Life is one big road with lots of signs, so when you riding thru the ruts, don't complicate your mind.'"  
  
"That was deep man," Sketchy said, though it was obvious he didn't fully understand the application of the quote.  
  
After much teary eyed packing Max was finally ready to leave. She gave hugs all around and couldn't help but let a few tears escape her eyes. Kendra and Original Cindy had tears streaking their faces, Herbal's eyes shined on the brink of sniffles, and Sketchy tried to hold all his emotions back but finally let loose a tear which he quickly wiped away.  
  
Strapping the last bag to her ninja she was off to her last stop before Canada. It was a confrontation that had played itself over and over again in her mind since the moment she decided she had to leave.  
  
*****  
  
"You've seen the other X-5? Who are they?" Zack's eyes had now transformed into those of an inquiring child. It was apparent that he was interested in hearing of the family he left behind. Obviously, since Zack or any of the others would have no way of knowing who had remained at Manticore, even with their hacking skills the Manticore database was virtually impregnable.   
  
He was awaiting her answer, sitting backwards on the only chair in the simple one room apartment, with his arms crossed over the back. Raven sat opposite him on the bed, her legs crossed and her back arrow straight.  
  
"I believe their names are Oz, Alic and Dawn and there are two others that I have yet to work with. Then there's Brin of course." Raven counted off the X-5 she knew.  
  
"Only five?" Zack had tried to prepare himself for the worst but he could not help but be shocked at the news. Including those killed for research and murdered during the escape that meant eleven dead. His voice filled with grief, he mumbled to himself "Only five survived that night?"  
  
"Why did you escape in the first place?" Raven finally voiced the one question that had been bugging her. She remembered back those years ago, when she overheard Lydecker and Mathews discussing the escape. The X-5 at Manticore that she worked with were never any help when she asked about that night or anything before. It was as though the very memories had been ripped from their minds.  
  
Zack's eyes seemed to glaze over as he spoke of his childhood. "Unlike you, the X-5 are flawed. We have seizures due to a lack of seratonin. You saw that the other night," he avoided her eyes for that moment, ashamed to have shown her such a weakness, "But they didn't know that at the time. So whenever one of us began to seize they would be taken away so that an autopsy could be preformed on their still warm bodies…"  
  
Raven gasped. She never knew Manticore would kill its own soldiers. It had never happened while she had been there. Many of her group would be disciplined but they would always return to their beds at night, alive and well. If any of those under her command were ruthlessly murdered for simple research, would she standby and let something like that happen? If Ty or Hawk or May or any of the others were to develop a strange defect, would she stare straight ahead as they dragged the body away?  
  
"…The night Max began to seize…I couldn't lose another to those bastards. I couldn't lose Max."  
  
The mere mention of her name brought another question to Raven's lips. "Why did Max leap in front of me?"  
  
Zack laughed and shook his head as he was beginning to relax around her now. Maybe he finally realized that is she hadn't turned him in while he was in that weakened state, right beside a Manticore base of operations, that maybe she wasn't out to capture them at all. Though most likely the injection played a crucial role, letting him relax as he knew he could defend himself. "Nobody knows why Max does what she does. It's a part of who she is. But I have a feeling that it had something to do with what Lydecker was talking about."  
  
"You mean the fact that you are my father and she is my mother?" Beneath his clothing she could see his muscles tense. The reference to him as her sire seemed to have caught him off guard. But it was true was it not? She may have been born from a different womb but her genes belonged to Zack and Max.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
  
Raven drew up her knees now, still puzzling Max's actions. It was one of those rare moments where Raven looked like a typical helpless pre-teen . "But it makes no tactical sense, the loss is far greater than the gain."  
  
"To protect the ones you believe you have a responsibility to, there can be no loss so long as they are alive." Once it was said allowed Zack realized that he had just summed up his life in a sentence. Sadly, according to himself, he had suffered great losses.  
  
"Why would she believe she has a responsibility to me? I tried to kill her."  
  
"You're made of her. She probably felt that it was because of her you were created, and that it was her fault you had to grow up in a place like Manticore." He may not have really known what Max had felt, but that was how he felt. And with the knowledge of the loss of eleven of his brothers and sisters, he felt the need to extend his protection to include this young child.  
  
*****  
  
Raven had learned many things during her talk with Zack. Not just from what he said but how he acted. It seemed he had this intense sense of responsibility towards those who were under is command and she was just like him in that sense. He also spoke of his other siblings, and the lives that they were leading. Careful to leave out any specific details as to their whereabouts, Raven noted. One was a baker, one was a mechanic, they lived such different lives than what they were fated to do. Could it be that a simple life was more appealing? After hours of talking about life both in and out of Manticore she almost felt guilty for what she was about to do.  
  
She sat in the washroom after excusing herself from Zack's presence, and after turning on the shower she pulled out a small pocket messaging device. If she didn't report to the Major, he would become concerned and send out some X-6 on a search and rescue operation. At the moment that was the last thing she wanted. She couldn't turn Zack and Max in just yet. Slowly and quietly she typed in the message she meant to send:  
  
Major Mathews, Infiltrated X-5. Raven.  
  
A small read button stared at her as she finished typing her name. Four little letters seemed to taunt her: Send. Would she really do this? It seemed the world wasn't as black and white as she had been taught that it was. The world wasn't split up into good and evil, predator and prey. Each individual was a mixture of both and she cringed to think about those she had killed without a second thought in the past. Could she really facilitate the capture of the X-5 when she realized, that if put in their position, she would have done the same thing? But to not report back went against every grain of her being and at least by doing so she had some control over the future. If not control than at least a warning. So she sent the message, watching as each letter was encrypted and the jumble of symbols was sent to Major Mathew's station. It was a short wait before the small screen silently flashed, warning of an incoming message. She watched as the meaningless symbols transformed back into English.  
  
Raven, Objective successful. Location? Ty will be sent. Mathews  
  
If Ty was sent it would be over. Max and Zack would be at Manticore before the sun rose the next morning. He was her second in command and together they would make short work or the X-5 pair.  
  
Major Mathews, Time requested to locate more targets. Raven.  
  
There was a longer wait as Major Mathews considered her request. She held her breath as she awaited his response.  
  
Raven, Request granted. End transmission. Mathews.  
  
After closing the communicator, she pulled the elastic from her ponytail. The midnight hair fell a quarter of the way down her back and she stared at her image in the small mirror that hung lopsidedly above the sink. She had only been away for a day and her view of the world was changing. Soaking her hair, she made it look like she had in fact taken a shower, as she told Zack she would, she wrapped her head in a towel and exited the bathroom.  
  
*****  
  
The penthouse filled with the scents of culinary masterpieces. After exhausting his eyes scouring the informant net, Logan had to bide his time until Max came somehow. He had left to go gather the ingredients for the meal that afternoon and it was remarkable. While in the marketplace a pickpocket was running away from his latest victim. As the young boy was staring over his shoulder at his pursuer he did not know that he was on a collision course with Logan and his wheelchair. All Logan could do was brace himself for the impact. But as he did, his leg muscles tensed as well. The rest of the shoppers must have thought he was crazy but Logan really didn't care that the people stared at him as he raced about the marketplace, hysterical with happiness. He was that much closer to walking.  
  
Finally he got a hold of himself and went home to cook. Laughing all the while as his muscle control returned to him. He couldn't believe it, as he was able to, though only briefly, lift one leg up an inch. Soon, it would be very soon.  
  
It was not a feast for a king, as the current economy denied him such a luxury, but a simple and elegant candlelit meal with desert warming in the oven. He glanced nervously at his watch.  
  
7:40  
  
Logan had been debating with himself all day. Should he tell Max tonight that he had a good chance of walking or be more dramatic and, during another romantic dinner such as this, stand and walk over to her? It all boiled down to if he could wait that long. Little did he know that he wouldn't even get the chance.  
  
The doorbell chimed and he caught himself speeding to the door. Slowing, he took a deep breath, composing himself before he reached for the knob, still undecided as to what he should tell her.  
  
"Dr. Marion!" She was the last person Logan had expected to see at his door at this time of the day. Her hair was up and she was wearing a gown with a shawl around her shoulders.  
  
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."  
  
"Oh, no, not at all."  
  
"I just realized after looking at your chart that I was staying in the same building with my sister, she lives three floors down. I thought I might as well drop by to check up on you. Maybe I should have called first."  
  
"No, it's fine. Though it would have been nice to know that this was a black tie checkup, I feel severely underdressed."  
  
"Oh this?" she blushed looking down at her dress, "I was just off to a banquet so... how are your legs doing?" She kneeled down and placed a hand on his knee.  
  
"Excellent. I have sensation in them already."  
  
"Good. You are on track with the others. Can you control any major muscle groups yet?"  
  
"Yeah, this afternoon I was able to tense my thighs."  
  
"If you continue with your shots and daily exercise, you could be walking the day after tomorrow. Luckily your legs haven't been out of use long enough to develop any severe atrophy so you won't have to worry about strengthening them."  
  
"Thank you again doctor,"  
  
"Call me Alyssa. And there is really no need to thank me."  
  
"What do you mean? You are giving me back my legs when everyone else said it was impossible. Thank you, Alyssa."  
  
"I'll drop by another time," she stood now, looking over him at the two person dinner he had prepared, "but I'll remember to call first." She winked at him and turned to push the button to call up the elevator.  
  
"Any time, I'll be happy to show you my progress." From within the apartment the stove buzzer sounded.  
  
"I'll let you get back to your preparations. Good night, Logan."  
  
"Good night." Logan shut the door to check on the desert. He tried to calm himself down in anticipation of Max's arrival.  
  
*****  
  
The ride up the elevator to Logan's penthouse never seemed so long before. Agonizing seconds crawled by as she waited for that last floor. Was she really up for this? Quite frankly she didn't believe that she was. In the few months that she had known Logan she felt something develop between them. It was this delicate thing, like a thread of spiders silk ... maybe too delicate at times. But he was her anchor, her "home safe" in this game of tag she was playing with Manticore. Logan being there for her would never change, he promised her as much that one night. She couldn't help but smile at the memory, his warmth beside her, his heart so strong and constant beneath her ear. Never before had she awoken more rested. Now, she was going to leave all of that behind.  
  
There were so many chances to leave before but she put it off to stay that much longer. With Manticore just outside the city limits, she had no other option now. She couldn't delay any longer. It was best for her and best for Logan. ' Yeah right, Max, keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you'll believe it '  
  
How was she supposed to say goodbye?  
  
Finally the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. As the doors parted they revealed a striking woman who looked like she was ready to walk down the red carpet. Her blonde hair was swept up into a twist and her simple white gown complemented her nicely. Who was this woman, and why was she smiling as she was leaving Logan's apartment?  
  
Suddenly without warning Max froze as she got lost in a flashback. It was one of those ones that haunted her more frequently.   
  
'It was another restless night. Her and Jondy hardly ever slept like the rest of the children but this night Max couldn't sleep because of what had happened earlier that day.  
  
It was the final objective to be completed. Infiltrate the enemy base and recover data. Simple enough. That is, until Randy suddenly dropped in front of her and began to convulse, his eyes glazing over as his body shook. Seconds later soldiers swooped in to drag Randy away. It was like he had never existed as the operation continued without another hitch.  
  
On the way back to the compound she didn't remembered how she got separated from the rest of the group. She remembered watching as her hand shook. The tremors had only started a week ago but she was able to hide them well, others were not so lucky. Soon, she found herself wandering a dark hallway. A door was ajar at the far end of the hall, a sliver of light spilling through. Curiosity took over and she stealthily made her way to the source of the light. Peeking through the crack she saw Randy's naked body laid out on a sterile metallic examination table. His chest was wrenched open with clamps, nurses and doctors surrounding his body, an old man requesting a scalpel had one hand deep into the open cavity. '  
  
"Are you getting off here?" the woman's voiced sliced through the memory, abruptly ending the flashback.  
  
"Uh yeah…" Max stepped out of the escalator and the woman stepped in. As the doors began to close again, Max turned to study the woman's face. Why would this woman remind her of that night?  
  
Turning to again face Logan's doors she tried to put the thought out of her mind. This had more precedence at the moment. Trying to calm her nerves, she opted not to ring the doorbell (she never had to ring it before) nor just walk in (which was what she was used to doing). Instead she quietly knocked on the door. Though she knew the woman was out of sight, she turned again anyways, trying to remember the lady's face and why it brought that particular memory streaming through her consciousness.  
  
*****  
  
More calmly this time, he went to the door and opened it. Now it was Max who stood before him, her head was turned as she seemed to be watching the elevator. He took a quick moment to admire her beauty before he spoke. She may have been wearing her typical clothes, black pants, a t-shirt, and her leather jacket, but there was no way she could tone down her beauty. It was all he could do, not to reach out to touch her smooth skin. Her dark hair just caught the light, and shined with highlights of red and brown. In her presence the world just fell away. Sometimes he would have to remind himself that she was real, because she was so perfect. It still amazed him how he had her in his life at all.  
  
Could it be you're the one?   
Maybe I'm now the lucky guy   
  
"Hey."  
  
"Hey, Logan. Who was that?"  
  
"Just a doctor that is working with Dr. Carr and myself."  
  
"So…Why was she all dolled up?"  
  
"That wouldn't be jealousy would it?"  
  
Her soft cheeks reddened with a blush. Max stepped into the apartment, trying to hide her face. "No." she tried to laugh the accusation away, knowing Logan was only kidding. But she couldn't deny it, she was jealous.  
  
He let out a playful sigh of relief, "Good, cause I don't think the world could handle an envious killing machine."  
  
"So, why are you looking so chipper? Did Mr. Eyes Only put away his daily quota of baddies?"  
  
"Nope. It's just an all around good day."  
  
"The sun is shining and all that jazz?" She smiled but her eyes seemed to droop with some heavy burden.  
  
Or should I turn and run,   
It's so easy to see that I   
Would wash your feet   
And fill your womb   
And I would be your man   
  
"I guess you could say something like that. You said we needed to talk, shall we do it over dinner? I made some-"  
  
"No." she interrupted abruptly.  
  
"Max? What's going on?" He was really anxious now, the smile dropped from his face.  
  
"Logan." It looked as though the girl who knew what to say in every situation, was having trouble finding the words. "Lydecker has made a base of operations at Colonel Sanders' former headquarters. Manticore is just outside the city."  
  
He went pale. In the back of his head Zack's voice seemed to mock him, 'You can do 'nothing ' for her', 'You will get her killed', 'I thought you would have been above selfishness'. If she stayed here with him it would only be a matter of time before they caught her. There was no other choice.  
  
But it hurts to know that I don't think I can   
  
"Then you have to leave Seattle."  
  
"We're leaving for Canada tonight." She confirmed his words.  
  
Though he may have known that she had to leave, he never would have expected it to be so soon. He didn't know what to say.  
  
Is it gonna hurt if we try   
Is this the calm before the storm   
  
Finally she broke the silence. "My offer from the cabin still stands, you know."  
  
Well we may skip like stones   
Or you could pull me from the mud   
  
But he knew the answer to that, without even having to think. "I don't want to slow you down."  
  
"That's just Zack talking." She shook her head, dismissing the comment.  
  
"You know he's right though, Max. The three of you on the run would have more important things to worry about than finding wheelchair accessible window's to leap through." He smiled, hoping to at least tug up that right corner of her lips. Now was not the time to mention that he would be walking soon. News like that might tip the scales and make her stay, and he knew she couldn't stay.  
  
And I would wash your feet   
And fill your womb   
And I would be you man   
  
But it hurts to know that I don't think I can   
  
Glad that some of the tension had been broken she did smile, "Hey, at least you're a free ticket to handicap parking. You know how parking is a bitch downtown."  
  
Their comedic respite was a short one.  
  
I will miss the songs and stories   
And the things you brought in   
  
"Zack, won't approve."  
  
"Well, he knows where he can stick it."  
  
"Max. You'll be on the run. I would be an unnecessary burden. I don't want to do that. How would I live with myself knowing that I was the catalyst to getting you captured or killed? There is no other way. You have to go."  
  
Could it be it's been so long   
I can't love you I've forgotten how   
  
At this moment he never regretted anything more than that first day she came back to his apartment. He could still remember how she smelt like the wind, as he pulled her toward the mirror. Back then the excitement overtook him as he found the barcode on her neck, but now, more than anything, he wished that he had kissed her instead. Maybe his life would have been different if he had, for that one instant, put aside Eyes Only, and did what he truly desired.  
  
The pleading look in Max's eyes seemed to say, 'Just give me one reason to stay. Tell me to stay and I will.' But he couldn't bring himself to tell her how he would be walking soon for her. There was no way he would tell her now how he loved her and would keep her safe, because he knew, against Manticore, he could do no such thing. He inched closer to her and reached for her hand. "Just don't forget me."  
  
I'm shy, once bitten   
Though I'm desperate I keep my place   
  
Gently he pulled her down, and she did not resist, placing a hand on his thigh to support herself. That simple touch sent shivers up his spine. Using his other hand he swept a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "Please don't forget." With that he kissed her, softly yet with all the passion for her that had brewed in him since the moment he first pointed a gun at her.  
  
She pulled back, reluctantly, and couldn't find any words to respond. Through that kiss their relationship was now revealed, no barriers, no secrets, but raw emotions laid out before each of them. Too bad, it was too late to do anything about it.  
  
Max started to step back, knowing that if she stayed any longer she would never be able to leave. So she didn't say a word, wanting, instead, to commit every line of his face to memory. Just as she turned to leave, he called out to her.  
  
If nothing is written   
Must you leave me without a trace   
  
"Max."  
  
She turned instantly, hoping he would say those few words that would make her stay forever.  
  
"Be careful." Max could not help but smile through her sorrow. The common phrase was a comfort. It made it feel like she would only be out for the night, and that she would be back in the morning.  
  
When I would wash your feet   
And fill your womb   
And I would be your man   
  
"As always." It took so much effort just to say two words without crying. Feeling the tears begin to burn in her eyes, she once again turned to leave, walking quickly out of the apartment and towards the stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator.  
  
Logan sat staring at where she had left, paralyzed this time by grief.  
  
But it hurts to know that I don't think I can... 


	18. Shards

As Raven opened the door she saw Zack was facing the dresser, his back to her. In the mirror she could see he was looking down at something. Closing his eyes, and lifting his hand to his mouth, he threw back his head, swallowing something. His tryptophan no doubt. Raven watched as he, with eyes still closed, placed his hand, palm flat, on the dresser. It was then she noticed that his hand was shaking with minute tremors. She could see his jaw clench then loosen then clench again. It wasn't hard to see that he was in pain.  
  
Only after a few moments the tremors spread to his forearm. As he felt the seizure growing he drew his hand into a fist, fighting his own body for control of his hand. Without much of a warning he pulled back his arm and threw his fist at the mirror. Raven couldn't help but flinch as the mirror shattered.  
  
He must have heard her sharp intake of breath, as it was then that he opened his eyes, and looked into the last shards of mirror that clung to the frame. Even reflected, his blue gaze was so intense as to keep her in her place.  
  
The view of his eyes, distorted from the cracks in the mirror, seemed to hold something darker in the depths. But only for a moment as his razor gaze softened.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked timidly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." He turned around looking at his hand, still slightly shaking, but now his fingers were coated in blood from the slivers of glass that had punctured his skin.  
  
"I can clean that up for you," she offered, moving toward her pack.  
  
"It's alright, I'll be fine." She ignored his words and proceeded to withdraw bandages from her first aid kit.  
  
Raven did not look him in the eyes as she bandaged his hand with an experienced ease. He was grateful for that. Zack was also grateful for the fact that she did this all in silence, not questioning why he had punched the mirror, or why his hand shook.  
  
He didn't want to admit it, and especially not to Raven, that he was weak once more.  
  
*****  
  
Max could feel her legs wobble beneath her as she turned her back on Logan and it wasn't due to her seizures. She had to walk quickly for fear of collapsing with grief. There was no looking back now. If she had stayed there another second she would have stayed forever. It would be in Logan's warm embrace, where she spent her nights whether she needed her rest or not. The streets would no longer call to her to find that thing that was missing in her life, because she had it all, in Logan. It was in that last kiss that she let loose all that emotion she had bottled up in her since the moment Logan said they didn't have that kind of relationship. Through that kiss was the only way Max could make sure he knew how she felt, because no words could encompass the passion within her.  
  
Much to her delight and dismay, Logan returned the sentiment. When he pulled her down, and their lips met, the passion was so intense she thought she felt his leg tense beneath her hand. As though she would make him walk again just because she willed it so.  
  
One floor down, in the stairwell Max stopped and leaned against a wall. Exhaustion seemed to loom over her, but not of the physical sort. Never before had she been part of such an outpouring of emotion. This was worse than at the cabin because back then she knew deep down inside, that despite what Zack might have thought, she would return to Logan when things calmed down. Now, circumstances had changed and there was no choice but to stay away.  
  
Slowly she walked to the elevator, her legs too shaky to make it down twenty more flights of stairs. She couldn't wait for the elevator with Logan so close to her, but now, with a floor between them, the pull he had on her soul wasn't as intense. It was a slow eternity as the elevator seemed to inch up to answer her call. She tried to keep her mind on anything but Logan. Raven, Original Cindy, Cole, Brin, Lydecker, anyone but Logan, but his smile always seemed to find a way into her thoughts. She was on the verge of insanity when the doors of the elevator finally opened. Max thanked whatever god was out there that it was empty.  
  
Stepping onto the elevator, she turned to press the button marked 'M', but found her hand reaching up for the one labeled 'PH'. This was it. Her last chance to forgo her own safety to be with the man she loved, whom she now knew loved her back. But she knew that would be foolish. By doing so she would not only endangered herself, but Logan as well. If you loved someone would you knowingly put them in danger? No. She answered her own question. Loving Logan, even with all her heart, would not bring him back from the dead if Manticore got a hold of him. Closing her eyes, as they stung with tears, she reached down to the lowest button and chose her fate.  
  
The elevator doors closed with a finality that pushed Max over the edge. She slid down the wall, to rest on the floor, her body racked with sobs.  
  
*****  
  
The machines that held Lydecker's life together hummed into the silence. Mathews stood over him, studying the only man who stood in his way. Manticore was a hair's breath away from being his, but the damned geniuses at this complex would heal Lydecker and once again, the command would be out of reach. Deep in his mind, the only place he could be sure was private, he craved to entwine his fingers about the cord that powered those blasted machines. One tug and the obstacle would be gone and Manticore would be his.  
  
He also knew that that was not how things were to be done. To be promoted he had to deserve it. With Lydecker down for a couple weeks he would show them that they needed new blood in command. With Raven out in the field, doing recon on the X-5, they would be in custody within weeks. One of them, Kat was her name, had already turned herself in and was being indoctrinated by his X-6 at that very moment. Besides all that, the key to his future lay in the boy. The mother had given him the name Cole, but that would be stripped of him soon enough. He would be the nameless weapon that would lead Mathews and Manticore to glory. Stronger and faster then anything their labs could produce, Mathews would harness not only the child, but his very DNA. Making a new generation that Lydecker had no hope of challenging. Only then would he claim his rightful role. Not by Lydecker's death, but Lydecker's failure. That would be when his success would be sweetest.   
  
Just then, someone entered the room.  
  
"You wished to see me, sir!" It was X-6t. Ty. Second only to Raven, Ty had proved himself a worthy soldier. Fully disciplined, Ty stood across the room, staring straight ahead at the wall. Mathews did not speak for a moment, looking upon this boy who had grown into a soldier. Though less then thirteen years old, the boy had shot up in height, more so then his group. Standing 6'3" tall, he was well over a head above the rest. Only his slim build gave away his true age.  
  
"At ease. How are you progressing with the prisoners?"  
  
"X-5k is showing some resistance, but still has residual traces from her last partial indoctrination. With the newest techniques we will have her broken within the week. The child could prove to difficult. But I suspect, despite his rapid physical growth, his mind is still pliable. He will be broken."  
  
The major admired this boy's fervor for his assignment. "Estimated time frame for the boy?"  
  
"Less than two weeks." Ty seemed so sure of his words. Though he had every reason to be.  
  
"Are you willing to be reassigned before that designated time?" Ty's disappointment was so brief Major Mathews didn't notice. But like the good little soldier he was, Ty understood that that was not a question, but a command.  
  
"If I may be so bold, sir, reassigned to what operation?"  
  
"Raven may need some help in the field soon. I will contact you when you are needed."  
  
"Is that all, sir?"  
  
"For now. Dismissed."  
  
*****  
  
When Max returned to them that night her eyes were puffy and red. It was clear as day that she had been crying, and most probably over Logan. Zack felt the disgust rise in his chest and he had to avert his eyes so as not to have to see his strong willed Max this way. What did she see in him? Logan wasn't one of them. He wasn't an X-5. How could Logan ever really understand her if he didn't understand the circumstances in which she lived her precarious life of freedom? Zack knew. He knew everything about the years of oppression, the torture, the experiments, the propaganda that flooded their senses at every waking moment. He also knew everything about the escape, the world full of choices, the liberating feeling of individuality. And most importantly he knew the dangers that came with this fragile freedom. Zack was all she needed, why wouldn't she see that. Did she have to break his newfound heart over and over again?  
  
Zack cursed himself for being so weak. He was a soldier, and a CO at that. Emotions were useless exertions of mental energy which could instead be focused on completing the objective. The concept , he understood well enough, and he agreed with it with every cell of his being, so why was Max able to put him in this state?  
  
Max, with a heavy head, dragged her feet to the bed and sat down. "So are we leaving now then?"  
  
"No. We'll rest up and head out before dawn. Max, you and Raven can share the bed, I have the floor." At his command, Max fell back against the bed, staring at the ceiling.  
  
Raven did not speak a word but instead pulled back the sheets of the side of the bed Max was not sprawled across, and quietly slipped in between. On her back, her hands by her sides, facing the ceiling she shut her eyes. The rise and fall over her chest slowed and within seconds she was asleep. Zack remembered back in Manticore when they were taught how to shut the body down for rest. Back then, no one had nightmares, but then again, no one had dreams.  
  
Beside Raven, Max pulled herself up until the bed supported the whole length of her body and her head rested on the pillow. She then rolled onto her side and bent her legs, drawing them closer to her. It was in that position that she closed her eyes attempting to sleep. There was not instantaneous shut down of the body and mind, as Raven did, but it was easy to see Max was glad to be pulled into the blissful oblivion of sleep.  
  
Zack watched as they both slipped from the waking world. It was strange to see them, side by side. They contrasted each other like night and day. Raven still hardened like a soldier of Manticore and Max was anything but. When placed next to each other in this way Zack saw what his own life was. Torn between two worlds, he tried to maintain the structured life of a soldier, his objective: to keep all those under his command safe and free from the clutches of Manticore and whoever else might threaten them. Yet he yearned for a life where he had a place he could call home, free of the heavy burden of responsibility as Max and all the others were allowed to live.  
  
But it was he who led the escape and it was when he made that choice, those several years ago, that he took that burden upon his shoulders. He could not abandon that now. The sacrifice of himself so that the others may lead a normal life was the only option. Despite his rationalization a small part of his mind wouldn't believe it. Deep within that portion of his thoughts was the truth.  
  
He was afraid.  
  
Afraid to live a life without structure or purpose. Afraid to have to establish relationships with people and depend on them. But most of all, afraid that he may realize that this freedom, the one thing that gave him hope while deep in the bowels of Manticore, wasn't all it was supposed to be. And once that happened, there would be no more hope. He would have led them all from a hellish life into a pointless one.  
  
As he watched their faces, Raven's so relaxed she could have been dead, Max's still tense with worry and grief, he felt a numbing tingle in his toes. Lifting his hand, he saw that it once again tremored. Patiently he waited until their eyes moved under their lids, signaling that r.e.m. had begun. In this deepest point of sleep was his best chance of leaving without anyone questioning him. As he grabbed his jacket and helmet he caught a glimpse of himself in the broken mirror that still hung above the dresser. The shards of glass that still clung to their frame distorted his face, splitting it in half.   
  
Quietly, with no more sound then a stalking cat, he crept out of the apartment.  
  
*****  
  
The apartment was dark inside when Zack leapt from the neighboring building and, releasing his harness, landed on the roof. Stealthily slipping through the window, Zack treaded, with surprisingly light feet, towards Logan's room. Placing his ear to the door he could hear Logan's steady, slow breaths. Focusing his hearing further he could hear Logan's heart had also slowed. Satisfied Logan was asleep he quietly opened the bedroom door.  
  
Logan lay there on his side, his eyes gave away that he too had shed a tear. That was another thing. If Zack allowed himself to live a normal life would it get to that point where he wouldn't be able to severe those ties. But is was inevitable that those relationships wouldn't last. Manticore wouldn't let the X-5 rest for too long. Wouldn't it be better to not open one's self to others at all so that no one would be hurt in the end?  
  
His seizing arm demanded his attention, sending shooting pains up to his shoulder, reminding him why he had returned here in the first place. The door to the washroom was already open and beside the sink lay the objective. The little bottle seemed to glow in the moonlight, but Zack new that was just a trick of the light. The very sight of the clear liquid seemed draw at him. It was like his body moved toward it, and his hand grabbed for it, but he himself just watched.  
  
His body craved that power, strength and speed and he couldn't, in all honesty, deny himself something his body needed. Zack had been denied so much in his life and Logan was a rich guy. He could buy another bottle. No harm, no foul.  
  
Stashing the vile and a hypodermic needle into his leather jacket pocket, he exited the apartment, through the same window he came in. When he finally reached his bike, he threw one leg over it and sat down, pulling the needle and vile out of his pocket. Popping open the slim cylinder that held the needle, he pulled out syringe. He filled the syringe with the fluid and balanced it in front of him on the bike. Then he pulled a tourniquet out of his pocket. After pulling off the left sleeve of his jacket, he tied the tourniquet above his elbow, putting one end of the elastic in the mouth, and the other in his right hand, pulling the knot tight. Zack flexed his arm, slapping the crook of his elbow to expose the veins that lay just beneath the skin.  
  
Finally, as his veins filled with blood, exposing themselves, he lifted the needle once more, and injected its sweet fluid into his body. As it infused into his blood stream he could feel his strength return to him one hundred fold. His head fell back in rapture as every part of his body once again responded to his commands. Every one of his cells now under his control. Zack took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, glad that at least one thing, his body, would do his bidding without question.  
  
*****  
  
Upon returning to the building Zack looked up to find Max resting her forearm on the top of the windowsill, staring out of the window towards the Space Needle. When she looked down to acknowledge him he could see her face was streaked with tears that reflected the silver light of the moon.  
  
After quickly covering his bike with some rubbish, Zack entered his apartment to find Raven still fast asleep, and Max in the same position leaning against the window.  
  
Zack walked over until he was only a few feet behind her and asked in a hushed voice "What are you doing awake?"  
  
"I could ask you the same thing." She too, lowered her voice, but she did not turn around to face him..  
  
"I went out for a ride, my nerves are still a little raw."  
  
"I had a bad dream I guess."  
  
"Well, you should really try to get to sleep again, it will be a long ride until Canada."  
  
"Yeah." He noticed that she wiped her eyes before she turned to face him. She took those few steps to the bed, brushing Zack lightly as she passed.  
  
"Max," Zack turned, once again talking to her back, "It's best this way, for you and everyone else."  
  
Max stopped as his words reached her ears, and he could see her take in and let out a deep breath, "I know." The sorrow in her voice, as she acknowledged her fate, seemed to grip Zack's heart. He would have sacrificed anything to take that pain away from her.  
  
Those were the last words she spoke as she lay herself down to rest. But it was the mourning in her voice that haunted Zack as he lay on the floor, unable to sleep.  



	19. Suspect

They were thirty minutes past the border when the sun peaked in the sky. They would have been in Canada six hours ago had they not given such a wide birth to the newly formed Manticore base. That detour alone added two hours to their trip, and the checkpoints and sector police were no help either.  
  
Finally, on this deserted highway, Zack decided it was safe to gas up and stop for some nourishment. Even without an enhanced olfactory sense, Zack and Max could smell the diner down the way. The sign above the door read "Momma's Place" and adjacent to that was the gas station.  
  
"I'll fill up the bikes, you guys order some food. Get me whatever you're getting," Zack said as they parked their bikes next to a pump. Raven jumped off of Zack's bike, stretched a bit and followed Max to the diner.  
  
When they got there a plump waitress, with the name Greta stitched onto her light blue uniform, welcomed them and sat them at a secluded booth by the window, placing well-used menus before each of them.  
  
"Would you ladies like a drink to start you off?"  
  
"I'll grab an iced tea please," Max said and the lady scribbled it down on a notepad. They both turned to Raven, waiting. Raven was confused for a moment. She had rarely been given a choice of what to ingest both inside and out of Manticore. It was always bottled water or an enriched formula that Manticore had supplied. Was it even safe for her to try anything else? If it was safe for Max it would probably do her no harm.  
  
"I'll have an iced tea as well," Raven said hesitantly, "please."  
  
Max smiled at Raven's order. She found herself remembering Manticore, and all that they had been denied. They went without such simple pleasures as juice, and instead had to eat specially formulated gruel and set amounts of hideous tasting liquids, though they had no way of knowing how repulsive it was, having tasted nothing else.  
  
"Sure, darlin', and for your third party?"  
  
"He'll probably take water, so could we get a pitcher of water and three glasses?"  
  
"No problem. Two iced teas and water," Greta said, confirming orally what had been asked of her, "I'll be right back to take your order."  
  
When Greta was out of earshot Max smiled at Raven.  
  
"How're you doing?"  
  
"I'm fine, it's the way I was made." Raven answered nonchalantly, intensely studying the menu since she had a feeling she would have to order her own meal as well.  
  
These words from Raven's lips once again tugged the corner of Max's mouth up into a crooked half smile. This girl was more and more reminding her of herself. She could recall a time when she had said almost those exact words to Logan. Logan… the smile quickly fell from her face. But she would not let another tear drop from her brown eyes, it was time she moved on. The wound would not heal if she dwelt upon it.  
  
"Are you okay?" Raven asked. Max thought Raven may have spied her sad expression and knew the source, but the girl still had her head buried in the menu.  
  
"Yeah. I'm all good."  
  
"Because I smelt back on the highway that someone was having another seizure and I could feel it wasn't Zack, so I concluded it must have been you."  
  
"Oh that, it wasn't too rough and I have my tryptophan."  
  
Raven lifted her head from the menu now, confusion filling those blue grey eyes, almost exact replicas of her sires. "Why is it that you can heal your seizures with a few pills and Zack has to down a whole bottle? I thought you were all genetically flawed in the same manner."  
  
Max didn't like where this conversation could lead too, but there was no reason not to tell her. "My tremors have also been steadily increasing in intensity. Zack was born around two years before myself so his seizures are probably further on in their concentration. From what I've gathered, they will keep increasing, and in the end," she shifted in her seat, "we may develop some sort of rapid aging syndrome."  
  
"Oh," was all Raven had to say to that. By the way Max moved about in her seat it was obvious that she was uncomfortable talking about her own mortality. She didn't want to pry any further and an awkward silence ensued. After a minute of looking through the menus Max timidly broke the silence.  
  
"So, how are you liking it?"  
  
"This place is a dump."  
  
"No," Max smiled at the misunderstanding, "I meant you're freedom. Not having to answer to any higher ups. No more following orders."  
  
"Yeah," Raven agreed, though really she still had no idea what this elusive freedom was. If that was how Max defined freedom she had experienced that several times already when in deep ops with minimal contact with her C.O., minimal commands to execute. Just an objective to be completed by any means she saw fit. That couldn't be what freedom was, was it? Still filled with doubt Raven continued, saying what she knew Max would want to hear, "I haven't been out very long and already it seems there is a huge burden off my back. It's as though I don't have someone staring over my shoulder all the time."  
  
"Exactly," Max's face lit up, remembering her first weeks of liberty. They may have been hard, but in the end they were worth it.  
  
"Hey did you order yet?" Zack asked a pack thrown over his shoulder, eyeing the washrooms in the back.  
  
"No, how does the Big Momma's brunch sound?" Max asked pointing to the first item she saw on the menu.  
  
"Sure," Zack answered absentmindedly, "I'll be back." For all he heard, Max could have said goat brain on rye with live octopus on the side, and he would have agreed to it. It was obvious this mind was on other things as he left for the back corner of the diner. They both watched his back until he was finally out of sight when they resumed their conversation.  
  
"How did you handle the first days of freedom? I mean, obviously you didn't have a group of X-4's to hang out with. You were on your own weren't you?"  
  
"Yeah," Max thought back to the days following the escape. "It was pretty tough, having to find shelter in caves in the woods before I finally reached a city. And even then, I called many a cardboard box my home, stealing clothes from clotheslines, breaking and entering to get some food, having to leave every few days, cause, well, you now, enemy territory."  
  
Raven nodded her head, as she listened intently trying to understand.  
  
"Sometimes I began to wonder why I even left in the first place. But then again it wasn't hard to remember."  
  
"So why did you leave then? I know why Zack left, and you all just follow him since he said so?"  
  
"We left because we were lab rats. They would break our bones just to see how quickly we would heal. They would kill us at any sign of a flaw for study and research. It was a matter of survival."  
  
Raven considered this. "So then you would return when you develop the syndrome you spoke of earlier?"  
  
"If I developed r.a.s. I would rather take my chances out here then return to that hell hole. Death would be a sweet release if it meant not going back there."  
  
"But you just said it was a matter of survi-"  
  
Max cut her off, not liking how Raven was sounding so doubtful of the benefits of freedom. "That among many things."  
  
Again there was another awkward pause.  
  
"There was one more thing I have been meaning to ask you."  
  
Max was more wary this time, but waited as Raven formed the question in her mind.  
  
"If freedom is so great, why do you cry?"  
  
At this question memories of her friends and the life she lead in Seattle came to mind and an image of Logan forced its way to the top of her thoughts. She could almost hear her heart scream deep in her chest. But she held herself in check, she could grieve for her losses on her own time. At least there was some comfort in knowing that she could answer her daughter's simple question, "It isn't a matter of crying but the choice to cry without having to worry about being beaten down for showing such a weakness."  
  
"Then why would you want cry? It is only over a few humans."  
  
The way Raven said 'humans' made Max feel, for the first time in all her freedom, that she wasn't human at all. For all those years since the escape she knew she was revved up, but she still felt human. The tone Raven spoke with made it sound like she thought herself and Max to be a superior species, not even of the human race, and it was this that frightened Max. She would have to change Raven's view.  
  
"What is joy without suffering?"  
  
Raven nodded. It made sense. But she could see how flustered her comment made Max. Wasn't it true though? They weren't human, they were more, and to deny that would be a crime to one's self. Like the genius that shriveled away cleaning dishes at a restaurant, it would be such a waste.  
  
"I gotta go freshen up," Max said, standing to leave, "If Greta comes by could you get me the strawberry pancakes, and get the brunch for Zack, and order something good for yourself."  
  
"Sure." Raven easily committed the order to memory.  
  
*****  
  
Zack stood in the single washroom, leaning over the sink, staring at himself in the mirror. What was happening to him? He was craving Logan's medicine and he hadn't even gotten down from the high of his last shot. Every part of his body was still fully his to control, his strength still at levels three times his peak, and yet the liquid called to him like a siryn's sweet song.  
  
In his pocket he could feel the small vile, and enclosing it in his grip he pulled it out. It was so small that it was fully hidden within his fist. His fingers gripped as though their lives depended on it and he found himself having to force his hand open to view the small bottle. With his other hand he reached into his other pocket, withdrawing only the tourniquet. Throwing that in the sink he delved his hand once again into his pocket, searching for the needle.  
  
'No!' his mind cried. Nothing would be as potent as when he shot it straight into his blood stream. A sickened feeling waved over him: he had to find that needle. Shoving the vile back into his jacket, he double-checked his other pockets. Confirming it wasn't there, he turned on his bag like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.  
  
Reaching into its depths he felt his clothes, rolled and placed in the most compact way so as to achieve maximum storage use. When no hard cylindrical shape met his fingers he pulled out his clothes and threw them out of the way in desperation. Still no light of the plastic tube that held his syringe shined through. He finally resorted to shaking his bag upside down, spilling all of its contents onto the floor, then tossing it aside like a used hoar. Zack ignored the pain when he dropped to his knees. As he groped the pile of disheveled cloth, sprinkled with rations and other various supplies, he could feel the panic rise in his throat. Searching to no avail, he returned to his bag, meticulously opening and checking every pocket twice over, finding two which did not open, despite his earlier assault.  
  
Forgetting his inborn strength, he nearly ripped one pocket clean off the bag in his frantic need to know its contents. After again finding no needle he pulled his hand back to find it was shaking.  
  
'Oh shit, please no!' he mentally screamed at his hand. His tremors couldn't be coming back so soon. There was no way.  
  
Finally, in the last pocket, success. The needle sat alone as if mocking him, telling him that he was an idiot for not remembering he had put it there. When he finally gripped the needle in his fist an eerie calm washed over him and he shook no more.   
  
Again, he pulled out the small vile, and looked upon them together.  
  
What was happening to him? He had to stop this. This was ridiculous. He looked around the restroom, the guts of his bag strewn about every which way, in stark contrast to their previous state.  
  
Just then a knock at the door.  
  
Zack froze in his kneeling position, not wanting to make a sound.  
  
"Zack?" the voice was so familiar; he should have recognized it right away, but his mind was in much the same state as the room that surrounded him. "Zack? Are you in there?" It was Max.  
  
"Uh, yeah," was all his brain could get his mouth to stay as it tried to collect itself into coherent thoughts.  
  
"Well, are you almost done? When a girls gotta go…"  
  
"Uh, yeah," he repeated, shoving both the needle and the vile into his right jacket pocket, "Where's Raven at?" As he spoke it finally dawned on him what he had done and he began to feverishly throw everything back into his bag in nor particular order or form, there was no time for that.  
  
"She's still sitting at the table. I can see her from here, no worries," Max paused, obviously hearing the commotion beyond the door, "What's going on in there? Did you miss the bowl? 'Cause you'd think that with your kinda background-"  
  
"Hold on," he called through the door, shoving the last of his supplies into his bag. Closing it tight, he took a deep breath to calm himself before reaching for the knob. When he opened the door she stood directly in front of him, a playfully impatient look on her face.  
  
"What'd you do? Paint the Sistine chapel in there or something?" To emphasis her point she glanced up at the ceiling. But when she looked back down she received nothing but Zack's piercing glare. "Whoa, ease up big guy," she patted him on the chest, "I'm just joking with ya."  
  
They switched spots, and Max closed the door behind her. Zack had inhaled another deep breath for good measure and took a step toward the table when Max opened the door again.  
  
"Zack?" He turned around again, and in Max's hand lay the tourniquet, like a limp snake playing dead. "Is this yours?" The look on her face was that of concern. But knowing nothing of Zack's daily life, she knew she had no right to pry. Still, that little bit of concern made Zack cringe. He would have to hide this side of himself from her. Max could never know.  
  
"Yeah," he quickly grabbed it and shoved it into his pocket, his knuckle brushing against the vile in the process. No, Max didn't need to know.  
  
*****  
  
Death was a tempting mistress and Logan flirted with her in his mind. Though the sun was already high in the sky, Logan couldn't bring himself to move from his bed. He had been laying there for the whole morning since Bling had the day off and was not there to drag him out of bed. Thoughts of sweet release drifted into his mind and seemed to find it a suitable home to take root. Slit wrists, asphyxiation, overdose, hanging, poison, gun shot, leaping from his penthouse window, the different ways to end his wretched life were more then he cared to count.  
  
The only difference that made this morning worse then all the others was that today he woke up to the knowledge that Max was no longer in his life. Even the prospect of walking again could not lift him out of bed. Everything seemed to be balancing in his life. While gaining back something he had taken for granted for so long, he was losing another. He thought back to those days he would push her away without a second thought, opting, like a fool, to work on some Eyes Only project instead. The most beautiful woman was within his grasp and he was too much of an idiot to do anything about it.  
  
Now he was paying for it. Truly he did not lose her, because he never had her in the first place. In his mind he replayed situations over and over again, where he should have held her tight, instead of pushing her away. But that was all it was, things he should have done and could have done, but never did. 'What if' scenarios shined through the darkness of his thoughts just to drag him down once again into the depths of despair that wrapped him in a warm, soothing shroud of death.  
  
'No.'  
  
It was only a slight whisper in his mind, that small part of him that refused to let go.  
  
'No.'  
  
The simple word, that held all the hope of life, seemed to echo inside his skull. Each time, gaining strength. With it clung the images of his friends and of the people he had saved. Among those was the night Max said good-bye. That final kiss they had shared held more passion then he had ever felt in all his life combined. It even overpowered the zeal with which he carried out his role as Seattle's watchdog. Killing himself held no purpose in the light of that memory. It was the coward's way out.  
  
'No.'  
  
The word had its own substance now, built on the foundation of those memories. Its presence alone banished all the darker thoughts that lurked in the corners of Logan's mind. He would live another day, he owed Max that much.  
  
Finally gaining enough strength to move himself, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed and froze. He had expected it to be a clumsy maneuver but his legs performed the act in a smooth motion. Now even thoughts of Max were pushed out of his mind as he stared in awe at his legs. Hesitantly, not wanting to push his luck, he tried to roll his right ankle, and to his amazement it responded to his command. It wasn't a full rotation but what did it matter? With continued treatments he would be walking as though he had never been chair bound before.  
  
Now only his toes lay beyond his capabilities, but they weren't essential for walking. A ridiculous grin crept to his lips, his mind hysterical with joy to the point that he didn't even remember that just moments ago he was suicidal.  
  
Slowly, he leaned forward and, for the first time in countless months, stood on his own two feet. It was nothing short of a miracle! His first steps were still wobbly, his legs needed to adjust to being used again. Soon, he would be whole again, and only then would he think himself as truly a man.  
  
With small shuffling steps he made his way to his bathroom. That small feat alone, demanded such exertion that he had to lean against the doorframe to catch his breath. It was then he noticed something was different. The feeling started in the pit of his stomach, where your body was somehow aware of it, but your mind had not fully processed it.  
  
Then it hit him. His medicine. It should have been on the counter, since that was where he last placed it. But where there should have stood a small bottle, now only half full of that life saving liquid, there was nothing. He tried to recall last night, when he took his last shot, but when he tried it was like a door had been opened and a flood of emotions fought to stream through. It took all his mental strength to bottle that all up and clean his thoughts for the question at hand.  
  
With a few more unsteady steps he leaned against the counter for support and opened the medicine cabinet. Not there.  
  
Bending down he opened the drawer that held his supply of needles. Not there.  
  
Finally getting down on all fours to search to floor of his bathroom. Not there.  
  
A feeling of despair threatened to wrap around him again. How much longer would he have to wait to walk again if he did not have his shots? Dr. Carr had said that the shots weren't necessary and were only used to speed up the process… But Logan wanted his legs back now, he had waited long enough. It was like ripping it down a highway at twice the limit only to slow to a crawl just before the destination.  
  
He needed his shots and he could probably convince Dr. Marion to whip up another batch. Money wasn't a concern when it came to his legs. He would pay any price. So now only one question remained. What had happened to his treatments?  
  
Then it dawned on him. Zack's voice echoed from a vague memory: 'You shouldn't leave your window open if you don't want visitors.'  



	20. Beginnings

"Report soldier."  
  
Though Ty did not see the Major's gaze but he could feel it trace a line down his cheek, where, from his eye to his chin, there was a red scar. Similar scratches were on the faces of his fellow X-6s, Venka, Crawl and Pratt.  
  
"The child was more of a challenge then I had anticipated. He regained consciousness before we could secure him and our tazers were not at the ready. It will never happen again. We have successfully strapped him down and administered the appropriate hallucinogens. It is only a matter of time now, sir."  
  
Major Mathews smiled. He never seemed to tire of this boy's dedication to his job. "Excellent work, but try not to be so rough with the child. If what you said was correct and his mind is still pliable it would prove for less complications in the future if he were to ... enjoy his stay."  
  
"Understood."  
  
"Venka, Crawl, Pratt, go see to your regular duties. Ty, see you our other guest."  
  
No more words needed to be said. They understood their orders and left without question.  
  
*****  
  
Her eyes were blood shot from the injections they gave her. Soon they would probably be coming in with eye drops since the metal contraption she was vertically strapped to would not let her blink. She did not know what time it was because they had made a point of not making visits at regular intervals, or maybe it just seemed that way in this room.  
  
She tried to judge the time by the dramatic temperature changes in the room, one hour hot enough to make her sweat the next so cold she her teeth would have been chattering, had she not been gagged. The temperature was even more exaggerated on her now shaven head. Already they had begun to strip her of anything she had gained while free.  
  
Needing anything else to concentrate on, her mind would try and make patterns of temperatures and correlate it to the times the X-6 came in, but soon Kat realized it was a futile effort. If Manticore didn't want her to know what time it was, she would never find out. However deep in mind she knew, though she didn't want to acknowledge the fact, that she had been there less than a day. She couldn't admit it to herself because she knew it meant she would have many hours if not days of this torture ahead of her.  
  
Before her, on the three walls in her view they played images of war and death, and every once in a while words would flash upon the screen. Kat couldn't really understand why they would have to keep her eyes open as her ears were constantly assaulted with non-stop propaganda.  
  
Once again the click of a door opening fell on her ears, easily distinguishable from the now monotonous drone of gunfire, explosions and monologues. Within seconds the boy she had heard others referred to as Ty stood beside her. During this, his fourth visit, he was again alone, carrying a tray that he placed on a table that was beside her but just out of view.  
  
Kat's gaze drifted, her eyelids like sandpaper, to study his face as he prepared whatever was on the tray, her eyes hungry for anything other then the flat moving pictures that plastered the walls. On his cheek was a scratch, still apparently fresh as the wound was raw. It must have been Cole. The thought of her son still fighting sent waves of relief through her body, they did not have him yet. But the relief was short lived as she was buried in the reality of the situation. They may not have him yet, but it would be soon.  
  
His face was too serious to belong to that of a twelve year old. It looked as though he had been forged in the fires of countless wars. But he was but a child, he should be worrying about grades, infatuations, and friends, not something gritty and heartless as this. It would have brought a tear to her eye, had they not so thoroughly dried out from the hours of unblinking staring.  
  
As if to answer her thoughts, he took a fluid and liberally dropped it into each of her thirsty eyes. The soothing liquid was tainted with fear because she knew this would only mean she would be strapped to this apparatus for a longer period of time. Again her eyes looked to the boy, now successful in making eye contact. She tried to, with that one look, convince Ty to let her go. Maybe the dread in her eyes would soften his heart. But she knew that was just wishful thinking. He broke the eye contact unphased and returned to prepare something else on the tray. He was a soldier of Manticore and had a duty to fulfill and his precise and sure movements gave away that he had done this several times before. So for now her hatred did not befall upon this boy, but Manticore, who gave him no other choice.  
  
Cutting through her thoughts, she felt the coolness of an antibacterial swab in the crook of her arm. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see he was preparing the spot to receive a needle he held in his other hand. Inside the clear chamber of the syringe was a reddish liquid. She tried to remember back to her training, what that liquid was. However knowing what was now being forced into her bloodstream would do her no good as it coursed through her veins with every beat of her heart.  
  
The sensation was strange. She did not know if it was her own anxiety or the liquid that caused her heart to beat at this frenzied speed. It was as though it knew what the liquid would do and was trying to free itself from her chest. Moments later she knew why it was right to want to flee. An excruciating pain ripped through her body from her outer extremities burning deep into her core. It was like someone was ripping the very skin from her flesh and burning what remained and her body strained hard against the straps that held her tight. A hoarse scream left her dry throat only to be muffled by the gag. The nerves which told her muscles to clenched with the pain had now tired, and her body proceeded to spasm instead. Had she had wood in her mouth rather than cloth she could have surely snapped it into splinters. Thankfully after only a minute the stabbing pain receded to a dull throb in her skull. It pulsated like a hangover from a rowdy party, but Kat knew it had a much darker intent.  
  
*****  
  
The earlier half of the day had been spent walking around his apartment and he could have done that all day had his muscles not complained about their use. The sun began its slow decent when Logan finally ripped himself away from his computer. Though he was steeped in his work, all it took was one filename that returned from a search he began days ago:   
  
/$$core(-m09).dump..files-#pentagon[six]{AreA 390}^[manticore]#.  
  
He was already hard pressed to avoid things that reminded him of her, she had lain on his couch, she had stood by his computer, she had sat at his table…  
  
Now, finally, for the first time in a long time Logan rolled back his desk chair and stood for a good stretch. His other hated chair now made it's home in the back of his closet. He was tempted to throw it away and have it incinerated but he knew that if nothing else, that chaired would serve as a reminder of things gained then lost.  
  
Now it was his stomach that demanded his attention and with increasingly confident steps he went to the kitchen to prepare a meal. The food was already cooked when he realized he had prepared a meal for two.  
  
The doorbell invaded his penthouse and thankfully, sliced through his sorrow. Looking out the peephole, he saw the back of a head of blond hair. Dr. Marion. Alyssa, he reminded himself. So her sister had given her the message. He could not see but he hoped she had the treatments there with her now.  
  
"Good evening, Alyssa," Logan greeted, his grin was wide with relief despite himself. "I trust you got my message?" The doctor stood before him, but if he hadn't known her area of expertise he would have thought she was fresh out of collage. Before him, she wore a simple while t-shirt and jeans, her face bore no makeup and her hair hung loose about her shoulders. There was no way she was over thirty, but then how would she have been able to complete medical school as well as the research necessary to be such a prestigious genetic specialist?  
  
"About five hours after I got home." She paused to admire him standing before him. Her eyes shined with pride. "So you're on your feet already? Two days before schedule, impressive. Do you have control of your toes yet?"  
  
"My toes haven't moved yet, but that hasn't stopped me."  
  
The warming smells of dinner reaching her nose. "Oh damn, I did it again didn't I? I keep forgetting to call first. I'm sorry."  
  
"Oh, not tonight, I'm alone." He tried to hide the pang of hurt in his voice, and only partially succeeded.  
  
She could sense his unease and did not dwell upon the subject. "Well, I dropped by to give you these two shots," her fist unfurled before and it was then Logan noticed she held two needles in their plastic prisons, already filled with fluid. "This should last you a day, and by tomorrow I can get you another vile. If you even need it."  
  
Logan took them from her. "Thank you so much."  
  
"Anything to help my star patient." Truly having nothing else to talk about, they both took a moment to smile.  
  
Logan shook his head, he had forgotten his manners again. "Would you like to come in and stay for dinner? I cooked extra."  
  
"Oh I wouldn't want to impose. My sister is downstairs cooking some vegetarian delight." The sarcasm in her voice told Logan that she was a meat lover just as himself.  
  
"I have spaghetti with a meat sauce."  
  
She involuntarily licked her lips. "You drive a hard bargain but really, I wouldn't want to be a bother."  
  
"No bother. The food is already cooked and it is the least I could do for the doctor who help me stand again." He stood that much straighter to emphasize his point. Taking a few steps back he opened the door wider, welcoming her in to his humble abode.  
  
"Alright, I concede," Alyssa smiled, raised her hands in a playful surrender and stepped into the apartment.  
  
*****  
  
"Sir." The speakerphone crackled. "The surgery was a success. The doctors say there were no difficulties and that the colonel will be breathing on his own in a week." Damn it, Mathews swore under his breath. He had hoped that the eighteen hour surgery to replace the Lydecker's heart and lung would have killed him. It would have made his life a lot less complicated. But alas, Manticore had horded some of the world's best surgeons and geneticists in the world and the chances of them making an error, or not forseeing all possible difficulties were unlikely.  
  
The news frustrated him and he stood, ready to leave to his home on base, and grab a drink of brandy. But a flashing on his computer caught his eyes. It was an incoming message from the field. He clicked on the flashing note and a window was called up. He waited patiently for the decoded translation.  
  
Major. Reporting. Raven.  
  
Maybe Raven would bring him some good news to calm his nerves.  
  
Raven. Download Recon. Mathews  
  
Major. New data not clear. Raven  
  
Shit. This day was just not his day. Lydecker was on the mend and his best operative had not been able to gather some simple information for him.  
  
Raven. No new targets have been found? Mathews.  
  
Major. Affirmative. Raven.  
  
The major's frustration rose in his face and he could feel his cheeks go warm with anger. There was no need for this mission anymore.  
  
Raven. Primary objective successful. Mathews.  
  
Major. More time requested. Raven.  
  
She had asked this of him before and he had agreed. This time being wasted confirmed that her talents were being squandered on this mission. It was time to bring her home.  
  
Raven. Additional time is wasted.  
  
Primary objective completed.  
  
Ty will be sent.  
  
Location. Mathews  
  
*****  
  
Raven had not expected the Major to deny her, her request. But the letters were plain before her. She had to feed him something so that he would deem the mission indispensable. What could she tell him that would assuage his impatience. She sent him another message so he would not notice her hesitation as she tried to think of some fact he would find interesting. As the message encrypted she looked nervously around the abandoned loft they had found, though she knew she was alone.  
  
Major. Some rough information available. Raven.  
  
As the letters were encrypted and sent, she knew what she could tell him. Her conscience may have fought her decision but she knew it was the only way Mathews would become as dedicated in seeking out all the X-5 as Lydecker. Ironically this was the only way Raven could think of to keep the X-5 safe for now.  
  
*****  
  
Her message did in no way comfort him. Why was she hiding her location? Why was she defying his order? He did not reach the point of panic because he knew she had been trained well but he also couldn't explain her behaviour. She had never failed to answer a question asked of her before.  
  
Raven. Not necessary. Location. Mathews.  
  
He persisted in finding her location and again he was denied. But the information that reached his eyes made him clear all his doubts.  
  
Major. X-5 not to be underestimated.  
  
Injection of unknown fluid increased capabilities five fold.  
  
Strength, speed and agility enhanced. Rival X-6. Raven.  
  
Greed filled his heart. With the X-5 captured and enhanced he would have over forty super soldiers under his control. It would help with the back order of assassinations and operations that were requested of Manticore world wide. It was this wait that was the main deterring factor to most of their customers. But if the stress on his resources were to be relieved…  
  
Raven. Time granted.  
  
New objectives: Seek all X-5, gain sample of said injection.  
  
Report daily on your progress.  
  
End transmission. Mathews  
  
*****  
  
"Hey Max." Zack said, as he climbed over the lip of the roof of the abandoned warehouse they had lucked out on. The loft they found seemed to be abandoned, probably the home of some drug dealer that had to pick up and leave. Raven said she could smell the cocaine. It was unfortunate that Canada's west had also been affected by the pulse. It was in much the same state of disrepair that America was.  
  
As he approached her he had to guard his eyes from the piercing red light of the sunset. Her profile was emblazoned with this red fire. If he was not mistaken she was gazing off into the south.  
  
"Max did you want some dinner?"  
  
"I'm not hungry," she curtly replied.  
  
As he stepped closer he could again see the sun shine off her tears and, though it was slight, her shoulders were slumped as well. His heart clenched in his chest to see her this way.  
  
"Max. You have to put him past you."  
  
"You don't know how hard I'm trying. You wouldn't understand with your phony sentimentality and all."  
  
That hurt. He understood, all to well, what it was like to leave the one who you loved. He had understood since the night of the escape when he knew the greatest chance for escape was if they all separated.  
  
"You're strong Max, you have to."  
  
"Why do I have to?"  
  
"For your sanity. I know it will take time to get over the hurt, but you can't rip yourself apart like this." He stepped closer to her.  
  
"What am I gonna do without him?"  
  
"You'll live your life and he will do the same." Again he inched closer.  
  
Finally, Max turned to face him, and he could see how the fire in her eyes had been doused by the tears. The grief of few days had aged her beauty by ten years. But to Zack she would always be beautiful. "But it hurts so much."  
  
He couldn't stand it any longer. Zack would give his life to take this pain away from her. So instead he offered something else. Friendship. Staring at the ground he spoke in an unsure voice, "Max. I know what Kat told you that night and it may have been true. But I also know that I can't give you whatever it was that Logan gave, no matter how much I may want to. And even if I did, I know I'm not the one you want. So at least understand, that I'll be here … as a friend." He hesitated. Had he done it right? He had never offered a friendship to anyone before.  
  
Max knew a momentous occasion when she heard one, and a half smile came to her lips more tears streaming from her chocolate eyes. She closed the gap between them and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "That's all I need," she said through her tears. With timid arms he enfolded her in a warm embrace.  



	21. A Soul is Lost

"Wait, wait, wait," Logan said as he pushed aside the plate he just polished off, and reached for his wine glass, "Let me get this straight. When you were young you showed an affinity for biology. You got a Ph.D. in genetics when everyone else was worrying about what prom dress to by. Even though you never applied, the government chose you for a prestigious position, where they would fully fund your research and supply you with an endless supply of test subjects. You finished your research a couple years ago, and now you are bringing it into the market."  
  
"Well when you summarize it like that, it sounds a lot more interesting than it really is. Besides, I would say you have the better life, living as though the pulse never happened. Now that is impressive." Dr. Marion too had finished her meal and was pushing the plate to the side.  
  
Logan waved away the comment, "Why didn't you stay with the government if they were willing to pay for everything?"  
  
"I don't know, I guess it got to the point where I didn't want to be spoon fed all my life. I kinda wanted to see the world, instead of holed up at some base, with day after day of research." There was something in her voice that Logan couldn't figure out. It was like she was only telling a partial truth and that the real reason ran much deeper than that.  
  
"So, they just let you go?"  
  
"I requested it about six years ago, but they insisted I fully complete my research as stated in the contract. They pretty much just took what they needed from me. Besides, they brought in younger geniuses who could continue my work. So I left and now, here I am, helping those who need it."  
  
"Thank God." They both smiled.  
  
*****  
  
It was a comfortable room they had placed him in. Surprisingly, considering the fight he put up. Though he was still wary of the X-6 who came in and gave him food, they acted in stark contrast from that first day a week ago. One of the girls came more frequently than the others, her name was Eden, and though he was still young Cole knew a beautiful face when he saw one. Though she bore fragile features with pale skin and dark hair, he knew she was strong, as she was one of the first to attack when he resisted their attempts to grab him. Despite that he still had this insane urge to protect her. At the appropriate times everyday she would come in to bring him his meals with a smile on her face and a polite inquiry as to how he was doing. She confided in him that they didn't mean to hurt him, but that they were told he would kill them and such forceful tactics were necessary. It seemed all the X-6 wanted to do was be his friend.  
  
And he wasn't cold to the thought. In his short life he had no time to develop anything to a semblance of a friend. Not being allowed out of this room for the first few days, he found Eden's visits highly enjoyable. She would always come in and talk with him, acting like what he imagined a caring sister or a good friend would act. Eden had been there when, on the fourth day, he attended some of the morning classes. And though he was the youngest there and most obviously the new guy they welcomed him. He remembered many of the faces, and though he had tried to kill some of them, they greeted him with no hard feelings. Even Ty, whom he had only a week earlier, severely scratched across the face (though Cole noted there was no mark left on his cheek) welcomed him with a smile. It was like he had come to a home where he would always be welcome.  
  
However, it was awkward when a minute before the class started everyone went to their seats and sat down, hands on their desks, backs straight, staring ahead. Looking from the rear it was like a class full of mannequins, not a noise could be heard. Even Eden left him to sit at an assigned spot. Not wanting to stick out even more he chose an empty desk and mimicked their poses. A scant minute later a man came in wearing army fatigues and he would talk about military maneuvers.  
  
Cole couldn't explain why but he clearly understood everything that was being said, and when the class ended his mind was hungry for more not even realizing it had already absorbed four hours worth of information. Eden had taken him back to his room, saying if he had more class time, he might one day be able to join them for the afternoon activities. And so his field trip apparently ended for the day, much to his disappointment. So it had gone for the last five days and though he missed his mother, he had spent more time with the X-6, as they collectively called themselves, and he found himself craving their company more and more each day.  
  
He stood up to stretch, walking over to the window that looked out over the forest that surrounded the compound. Among the dense forest, on the first day they placed him in this room, he saw a bunch of children running around in camouflage, they seemed to be hiding from a group of larger men who were sweeping through the area. He asked Eden about it, when she brought him lunch, and she told him it was a game they played, here at Manticore, called escape and evade.  
  
As he took that first step to the window, he grabbed at his hip. An intense pain flared up from the joint. So much so he had to stop, fearful that any movement would set off the pain again. He may not have known it but his body was protesting to his rapid growth. He had shot up another foot in the past week taking him to a full height of three feet, nine inches. A couple more weeks and we would be the height of an average man and he wasn't even one yet. And his mind was developing even faster than his body.  
  
Daring another step, he proved his fear right, and the same hip sent out another jolt of pain. Focusing his energies in making the pain go away, he didn't even notice someone enter the room.  
  
"Are you okay?" It was Eden carrying a tray of food.  
  
"My hip," he grimaced in pain, "it just went out on me."  
  
"Growing pains most likely," she soothed his worries with her reassuring voice, "We all had them." Each day always presented another way in which he was similar to the X-6 and in all honesty he didn't mind the consoling feeling of belonging. The only difference, besides his height, was his tiger striped hair, which he now ran his fingers through. He even got confident enough to take another step, and he grimaced through the pain forcing his way to the window. Maybe he could catch another glimpse of the games that they played without him in the evening. Soon, he promised himself, he would learn the rules better then the rest of them and join their afternoon and late evening games.  
  
"I…" she hesitated, "I have some information about your mother."  
  
The words turned his head sharply. He realized with a sickened heart that he almost forgot about his mother amongst the novelty of his new friends. To top that off, the tone in Eden's voice was soft and mournful.  
  
"What happened?" His voice didn't convey as much concern as he would have expected.  
  
"Kat escaped. She left us this morning."  
  
Cole could find no words to say as the feeling of being abandoned nibbled at the edges of his mind. Why would his mother leave this place? Why would she leave him behind for a second time? It may have been hazy, as all early life memories were, but he could recall the day when she had left him at the apartment, while she followed some strange men. She had stashed him in a laundry basket in the closet, only to be picked up and taken away by another strange man who claimed to be his father.  
  
One would have expected him to be broken hearted, but Manticore had changed him in its own subtle way. Instead, the sadness he felt and disappointment in his supposedly loving mother stoked flames of hatred in his heart. If she didn't want him, he didn't want her either. He didn't even need her. Wasn't it he that saved her and Max and Zack from the X-6 above the pizza parlor? Cole could handle his own and when he couldn't he had his new family to go to for help. He turned around again to face the window watching his new family, as they wielded their guns and ran through the forest, silently signaling to each other. That would become his new language.  
  
"Cole? Are you alright?"  
  
"Don't call me that. That isn't my name anymore." Cole didn't see it but Eden smiled at the conviction in his voice as he had just forsaken the last thing that linked him to his former freedom. She smiled because she knew after this he would dedicate himself to her and her fellow X-6, instead of his pitiful mother, who was currently locked up tight in the lowest levels of the compound.  
  
"Then what are we to call you?" she dropped her smile so he wouldn't hear it in her voice.  
  
"I want you to choose my name." He turned around to face Eden once more and in his eyes she could see how, with those words, Cole had given himself to Manticore.  
  
*****  
  
The past week had crawled along for Zack, Raven and Max. They each procured jobs under aliases, to collect enough cash for fuel and food. Zack worked at a warehouse twenty minutes away, while Raven and Max got a job at a bakery right across the street.  
  
"Woah, don't work too fast, or we won't have anything to do in the afternoon," Ethan said as he watched Raven sweep the floor in the back. Raven looked away from her coworker slightly embarrassed at her predicament. She was a trained soldier and if she wanted to she could snap this cocky sixteen year old's neck, but instead she swept the floors as she was told. At his jibe, she slowed her pace. Truthfully she had only ever watched the caretakers at Manticore do this sort of menial work.  
  
When she looked up again, he stood there leaning on his broom, smiling at her. "What?" she asked, accusingly as she knelt down to collect the pile of flour and other various baking goods, into a dustpan.  
  
He shrugged his shoulders. "It just amazes me that you have already been working for a week and you're still eager to do all the work like your gonna finish it or something."  
  
"Isn't that the purpose to work? To complete something?" Raven bit back.  
  
"Hey, simmer down. I mean the work will never be done. Once you finish that, the big boss man will find us something to do." He ran a hand through is red hair then turned his attentions back to sweeping at his normal leisured pace.  
  
An incessant need to prove him wrong itched in her hands, so she ducked behind a shelf and began to organize the baking goods. Now it was her turn to watch him. She marveled at the procrastinating powers of this boy. Everything he had said or done this past week was in a laid back manner. It was a wonder he still had his job, though Raven had her suspicions that the baker was his uncle.  
  
"So what? Does my working amuse you now?" he smiled, without looking at her nor pausing from his sweeping. Her muscles involuntarily tensed. She had not expecting that Ethan would have been aware of her scrutinizing. Flustered, she turned her full attentions to her work, trying to ignore his smug smile, and the strange warmth that rose in her cheeks.  
  
*****  
  
Zack paused to take a breath. Not because he was tired or his muscles were sore from unloading the trucks, but because the rest of the guys were tired. Truthfully he could work at this pace for days at a time, and only feel a slight ache in his shoulder after a week. But there was no reason the guys he worked with needed to know that and there was no reason to draw any unnecessary attention.  
  
Before long another truck came along and they all put down their drinks and, with heavy feet, headed toward it. Much to the dismay of the rest of the guys, it was another unsorted load. However, Zack found the monotonous drone like mentality of his new found job to be oddly comforting. It was something to do, that didn't involve to much thought. No planning, no effort, just pick up the box and put it on the right palette.  
  
"Hey, kid!" Zack hated the nickname he had been tagged with when he got the job, but he was, by far, the youngest guy to be working at such a grunt job. "You like overtime, you wanna pick up an extra five hours?"  
  
"When?"  
  
"Tonight, right after your shift. Murray can't make it in for his shift."  
  
Not that Zack would know who this Murray guy was. "Yeah, sure." He did it for the cash flow that would come in. Passing up an opportunity for an easy hundred was ludicrous in his mind. But he also did it to stay away from the loft. For the past week the mood at the loft has been miserable. Though Max tried to hide it, it was obvious that the hurt still lingered in everything she did. Every once in a while, Zack would even catch her gazing off to the south with a look of longing in her eyes. Not even a long night ride on her precious ninja could change her mood.  
  
What bugged him more was that Max had never taken him up on his offer since that time on the roof top when the grounds for friendship were first laid out. Maybe it was for the best that she didn't go to him. What comfort could a stone wall give? Deep down inside he knew, that he picked up the extra hours to stay away from Max. He knew that long after the sun had set, Max would either be sleeping or out for a ride. Either way he wouldn't have to face her. Was that the cowards way out? Yeah, sure, but everyone has their moments of weakness.  
  
*****  
  
"Permission to speak freely, sir."  
  
"Permission granted."  
  
"I don't like the idea, sir."  
  
"I know you've been working hard on her, but this course of action could be best. It will help your efforts and Eden will benefit as well with Project Nemesis. There will be no risks."  
  
"Of course there will be risks."  
  
"No, there will not. She will be returned to you as she was taken."  
  
"Slightly damaged I am sure. If what you are saying is true, and we still need to secure the loyalty of Project Nemesis, then this course of action could be risking that. What if he sees his mother and regresses? He will know Eden has lied, and we risk him turning against us. The only reasons I am having difficulties with the mother is that she clings to the thought of her son. Meaning the encounter will be detrimental to my efforts this past week as well. I see no need to risk all this."  
  
"Noted, soldier. But the Triumvirate cannot be swayed in the matter. They see it as the fastest way to secure Project Nemesis, so we can put him to work. They are eager for the money to fully move Manticore into phase three."  
  
"I still see no need for phase three. The experiments downstairs are highly unstable. What can they benefit from that?"  
  
"You may think highly of yourself soldier, but in many ways you are still weak."  
  
"Sir I-"  
  
"Move her to another room, I will contact you further when it is deemed appropriate to execute Operation Lock Down."  
  
"I-"  
  
"Dismissed." 


	22. Not like this...

Logan gathered the dishes they had left on the table and brought them to the sink. He had eaten dinner with the doctor for every night but one this past week. Though he was no longer on any meds, and the treatments were no longer necessary he still enjoyed her company. But he couldn't kid himself. The void Max left was larger than anything he could think to fill it with. Having company over, no matter now pleasant, couldn't even compare. Maybe if the hurt wasn't so much he could move on.  
  
Sometimes when he closed his eyes the loneliness would creep up on him and before he knew it he would lose himself once again to despair's embrace. So his head rarely touched his pillow. Instead he worked full force on putting away the corrupt politicians and policeman, and avenging all those who didn't have the means to do so themselves.  
  
Infact he had finally wrapped up a story he had been gathering for the last few sleepless nights. Sitting down, she set up the camera and typed the command that started the scrambling of his image. The three screens to his left displayed the video. One set held his eyes, another displayed the scrambling effects and the last combined both. Eyes Only may be a mask that he hid behind so he wouldn't have to face the hardships in his own life. But that wasn't all. He could no longer deny that now, after so long it was a part of how he defined himself.  
  
He quickly reread the facts he had printed out and took a long, slow breath. "Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. This cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in this city."  
  
*****  
  
Around her, sounds, which now blurred together in her mind, still assaulted her weary ears. They had freed her head from its metallic cage, and though she had a full range of motion, her head hung down as if in supplication to some god to free her from this hell. She had held this position for a length of time she could no longer judge. It may have been a day, it may have been two weeks. Ty had succeeded in distorting her internal clock long ago.  
  
Suddenly, without warning, the constant drone of noise violently stopped leaving an even more deafening silence in their wake. Even this couldn't lift Kat's eyes to examine her surroundings. Through her lids she could see red, as though a bright light was being shined straight at her. This being too intense for her tired eyes to take, she clenched them harder, wincing in pain. She did not have to see for herself, but she could tell that the walls around her were now naked of their propaganda.  
  
Her ears were slow to adjust to the silence, a loud ringing still echoed in her skull. Just barely beyond that she could hear footsteps. Before long she could feel a firm hand take hold of her arm. Slowly, she could feel one of the leather straps that held her down loosen, and then finally release its grip on her wrist.  
  
It was only a murmur in the back of her mind but her heart skipped a beat. Maybe this was her freedom. Maybe Zack had finally come for her. She knew he would come to save her. This lifted her head an inch, but her eyes were still too sore to open.  
  
"Zack?" her voice was barely a whisper, as though any sound too loud would shatter her brief glimmer of hope.  
  
"Shhhh," he hushed in her ear. He was being silent so that they would not know he was here. Yes. That was it. She could recognize those strong hands that worked on her other wrist now. It had to be him. Her savior. But before she could reach a full state of elation she could feel the cool familiar feel of metal once again clamp down. She could feel more hands on her now, loosening her feet from one binding just to place them in another. The thread of hope that laced through her thoughts shattered. Kat could not find the will to fight and she fell from her standing position, free now from her vertical prison.  
  
The floor rushed up quickly at her, but before it hit a network of hands caught her and lifted her onto a bed. The clinking of the chains was like a jackhammer in the blistering silence. Her eyes still clenched tight, she could feel the world move about her. Soon she could feel the slight breeze that indicated the pace at which these people, most likely the X-6, rushed her off to her new cell. Kat tried desperately to let her mind wander into thoughts of sanity, but it always drifted back to one thought: what new horror would await her at the destination?  
  
For the briefest of moments she opened her eyes a slit and above her she could see Ty's face. That was all she needed to see and she clenched her eyes tight again. A tear fell from her eye. She did not cry for herself of for the pain she knew she would have to endure at the end of this transfer. She didn't even cry because she knew soon they would break her. Even now, she could feel her sanity slipping and her humanity escaping her grasp. But instead she cried for her son. She had failed him as a mother in more ways than she could count.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan. He liked how his new name suited him so well. Leave it to Eden and the others to come up with such a fitting codename. Eden had told him that it mean "dark warrior". He liked the sound of that too. Today he had begun to learn their silent language and Ty had told him that soon he would be ready to join them in their games. He thought about this as he lay in his bed, still in the same room overlooking the forest. He ran through some of the hand signals he had learned today. Each were such simple motions, yet the slightest tilt of the hand would warp the meaning. It was a seemingly simple language that he would share with his new family. But to him it was more diverse than English would ever hope to become, and yet so clear that everything was understood and there was no such thing as misinterpretation.  
  
The instructor told him that he was a fast learner, having already taken in half the 'dialogue' in his first lesson, and with the knowledge he had already acquired in this past week of lessons he would be ready to join the others in the later day activities. As he lay on his bed, his hands clasped behind his head, he closed his eyes and envisioned himself out in the field. He would be with his family, working in tandem to complete a common objective. Or, if he proved himself worthy, they would allow him to do solo missions, like he saw Ty and Eden and a select few of the others sometimes do. Though he did not dream, the images lingered with him. And when he drifted off to rejuvenate his body, the left corner of his mouth lifted in a smile.  
  
*****  
  
It had been dark for a while now. The sun had set over five hours ago, and the sliver of moon that floated through the sky offered little illumination. None of this bothered Zack, however, since he needed only the barest of starlight to see with his feline night vision. Satisfied no one was watching he lifted his motorcycle and carried it with him up the two flights of stairs. The rickety, old elevator was too loud. He knew Raven would sort out the noise as non-threatening and remain in her state of sleep, but if Max were trying to rest, he would have awakened her. He didn't want to rob her of the sleep she needed.  
  
When he opened the door, his nose caught a whiff of some sweet scent. He couldn't quite place it so he paid it no attention and quietly wheeled his bike into the apartment. In the corner he saw Max's bike. [I]So she did decide to rest tonight[\I]. With as much stealth as the bike would allow him, he parked it beside Max's. After a quick double check that the door was double bolted and the windows were locked shut, he made his way to the bathroom. After brushing his teeth and splashing his face with water he tiptoed to his room.  
  
He stripped his shirt off and reached over to rub his left shoulder with his right hand. Back at the warehouse he had lifted something funny, or maybe it was when Hugh had almost knocked him over. Zack considered stealing the money they needed instead of getting these seemingly pointless jobs, and they probably could have done it easily. But he didn't want to have to be concerned with running from the law as well as Manticore. And not only that, but he didn't want to give Raven the impression that they were outlaws, even in this dog eat dog economy. How could she respect him if she saw him as a common thief.  
  
Not yet ready for sleep, Zack walked over to the window. His thoughts drifted onto other matters, like if he should round up the other X-5. Were they threatened in anyway? It didn't seem that Manticore was stepping up the search for the lost prototypes. He had checked his messages earlier that morning and no one seemed in need of help. Times like these, he felt useless. There really was no need for a protector with nothing to protect.  
  
Behind him he heard the knob of his door quietly click. His muscles tensed itching for some action, and when the door opened he heard someone quietly slip in and close the door behind them. It was then that the sweet scent he had sensed earlier hit him like a brick wall. Only now, with it's full force could he recognize the natural perfume.  
  
He gripped at the window pane, and fought the primal urges that brewed in his belly. Zack refused to turn around fearful that he might lose himself in an already desperate battle. "Max. What the fuck, are you doing here? Get out."  
  
"Zack," she purred his name in a soft, seductive voice. Her voice sounded closer now though he swore he didn't hear her move. But in this state Zack couldn't trust his sense as they were flooded with craving. "Come here."  
  
"No Max. You need to leave. You don't know what you are doing." He closed his eyes and tried to push his mind onto other things but his body wouldn't have it.  
  
"I know what I want." She was close enough this time that he could feel her breath on his bare back.  
  
"No you don't. Get out of here Max," Zack demanded in a hushed voice.  
  
A shiver ripped through his body as he could feel the warmth of her hand on his side. He could not have this. Zack turned around, trying not to breathe in any more pheromones than he already had, but it could not be helped and every intake of air amplified his impulses. He grabbed her arms, and with the contact of flesh on flesh, he knew he would regret that action. "Max. You have to leave now."  
  
"Why? I thought you would wanted this too?" She traced his abs with her finger, strands of her hair tickled his chest.  
  
"We can't do this, Max. Not now…"  
  
"Then when," she tilted her head up with a defiant look in her eyes.  
  
"You know this will never happen." The words may have been formed in the small part of his sanity that remained, but he found his body pushing her toward the bed.  
  
"I think it will." It may have been a trick his mind was playing with him, but he thought he heard her growl.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" His mind persisted in controlling his words, but his body seemed to be winning this battle.  
  
"Because I need you, Zack. I've always needed you." She placed her free hand on the back of his head.  
  
"That's a lie Max. You never needed me before. You never will."  
  
"You never knew what I needed Zack."  
  
"You need to get over Logan-"  
  
Max cut him off, placing her lips on his in a fiery kiss. He found himself pulling her body closer to him. This was something he had wanted for as long as he could remember. Zack held her in tight embrace. But he knew it was all a lie and a sickening feeling overtook the primal urges within him.  
  
"No," he edged the word in as they pulled back for air. Max pushed in again, she was being irrational in this state of heat. He forced his mind to take control of his body. But he could not resist one last kiss.  
  
Zack pushed her away and turned his head to the side, "Not like this."  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"Not like this." He let go of her and quickly, before the pheromones would take hold of him again, grabbed a shirt and his jacket and sprinted out the door.  



	23. From The Darkness

Zack was long gone but Max spent another hour sitting, alone, on his bed. What was she doing here? She wished that she could blame it on the hormones that were raging through her blood. But she knew it wasn't just that. She couldn't deny that she came here tonight to get Logan off her mind. Zack had pretty much admitted to her that he loved her. And in the strange frame of mind that she was in, she thought she could love him back.  
  
But Zack could tell that she wasn't sincere, even though she believed that she could learn to love Zack. Max had seen how he had changed, had felt safe with him around. Maybe if she loved him, someone who was here and now, thoughts of Logan wouldn't hurt so much. But Zack knew that wasn't the way it should be done. In the end Max couldn't figure out if she should curse him for pushing her away, or thank him for stopping something they would both regret, no matter how much he may have wanted to.  
  
Either way, she felt guilty for putting him in such an awkward position. 'That was just cruel, Max. The guy just wants to be there for you and you put him to the test this way? What are you thinking girl?,' she chided herself as she stood up, rubbing her arm to get some warmth into it, and walked out of the room and to her ninja.  
  
*****  
  
Raven felt a small jolt of electricity shock her leg through her pocket. Surprised and even startled, she grabbed at the small communicator through her pocket. Instead of beeping or vibrating, both of which made a noise that was too loud for some covert operations, the communicator shocked those in the fields to inform them of incoming calls. She looked around and saw that Ethan was busy with the latest batch of french bread. Good, she thought to herself and pulled out the small messaging device, curious as to who would be foolish enough to message her while she was active.  
  
The screen filled with a useless jumble of symbols. Though she waited for the automatic decryption to ensue she tried to translate the message by herself. The pattern was familiar… Below a message flashed: Initiating decryption algorithm Alpha Sigma Theta Tyger. It was the name of the decryption she shared with Ty and Ty alone. They programmed it together once while out on a rather boring recon mission. Why would Ty be messaging her? She hoped all her siblings were okay. Maybe it was just a friendly note. They all did that sometimes.  
  
Hey Rave. Just dropping a line. Mathews is on some sort of power trip. You're lucky you got out of here so quickly. Though I have the better deal. I've been assigned to break Kat. She's resisting more than Brin ever did, probably because of her son. I gave Eden the pleasure of molding Kat's son. Only after a week he allowed us to rename him. Where are you now? I hear you have been accepted by the rogues. Impressive work. Ty.  
  
Normally she would have smiled to hear from her brother, or any of her siblings for that matter. Normally she would jokingly message back that she would have probably had Kat broken already if she wasn't already an active operative. Normally she would have felt proud that her little sister had successfully indoctrinated someone as lethal as Cole, to the point where his name was his no longer. Normally, but this time something was different. As she read the words a strange feeling brewed in the pit of her stomach. She knew the techniques they would use on Kat, and she cringed at the thought as well as the memory of breaking Brin. The X-5's did not deserve this, they have suffered enough in the hands of their creators…  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Ethan said as he entered the back area where Raven was. At the sound of his voice she snapped the message shut and shoved it back into her pocket.  
  
"Nothing you need to be concerned about."  
  
"It's one of those electronic diaries, isn't it? Where'd you find one of those, my sister wanted one for her birthday."  
  
"Yeah, my brother got it for me a couple months ago." She picked up a can of something or other and pretended it was just what she was looking for.  
  
"So, you wanna come for lunch? I'm gonna go to that sub place down the street," Ethan offered.  
  
She hesitated, he had never offered before, "Sure." Her hunger won out, and she mad a mental note to respond to Ty later.  
  
*****  
  
Two days had passed since that night. Zack was rarely at the loft, this time because he could not stand the tension. Max may have been crazy in heat, but she remembered what she did and what went down. Whether it was from embarrassment of her actions or anger that he had denied her the relief she thought she needed, she would not even lay an eye upon him. Rather, she would just leave the room.   
  
More trucks had come in than usual today at the warehouse, and Zack was thankful for the work. All morning he hauled box after box in an almost rhythmic pattern that proved to be an escape from his life.  
  
"Hey, kid, you got that last box? Careful now, it's a heavy one." Marcus said, and turned with the others to go for lunch.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I got." Zack said as he bent with his knees and lifted with his legs. It was heavier than usual but easily within his abilities. Yet, he put the appropriate strained look on his face to make it appear that he was actually putting in some effort. As he stepped out of the back of the truck, without warning, a stabbing pain shot up from his foot and his left leg became rubber. He stumbled, tossing aside the package and bracing himself for the fall. He clutched at his leg as the pain grew more intense. The package landed with a metallic crash not far from one of his coworkers, drawing everyone's attentions.  
  
"What the hell... Sam! Are you alright?" They used the only name they had given him.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Is there blood?"  
  
The concerned words of his coworkers were lost upon his ears as he looked down to see his left arm engulfed by seizures.  
  
Soon his boss kneeled over him shaking his shoulder to awaken him from his daze. "Sam!"  
  
"I...I have to go..." After much difficulty he used his good arm to get up and put his weight on his good leg. Without further explanation he half hobbled, half sprinted out the door of the factory.  
  
*****  
  
The bakery was slow today. Max was sweeping the floor in the front when movement across the street caught her eye. Zack jumped off his bike, not bothering to bring it up to the loft with him and raced inside the building. She looked the clock. It was only 12:30, there was no reason for Zack to be home from his job so early. A sick feeling caught in her throat. Maybe Lydecker had found them. Maybe he was gathering their things and preparing to leave, explaining why he didn't bother to bring his bike up. Max was tempted to see what was wrong when she found her body wouldn't move.  
  
She had been able to avoid him for the last little while even though he had been nice and never brought up that night. A night like that would make for awkwardness all around. But this situation was unavoidable. She would have to put that all behind her. Zack was better than that, he understood why she was like that, and unlike so many other guys, didn't take advantage when she practically threw herself at him. He even gave her space afterward, or so it seemed as he took the afternoon to late evening shifts.  
  
But if Manticore was on their tails again, there were more important things to be concerned about. Enough of this foolishness, she had to go over there and see what was wrong.  
  
"Hey, Mr. Jackson? I'm gonna take my lunch now okay?"  
  
"Sure, Max. Take your time. The day's kinda slow."  
  
"Thanks," Max said. After propping the broom up in a little nook behind the counter she left the door and crossed the street.  
  
*****  
  
Zack could barely unlock the several locks his hands were so shaky. He could feel a cold sweat developing on his brow, and his legs were about to give out soon. If he didn't get that shot in him soon, he wouldn't even be able to inject it into his veins. Once that happened all he could hope for was that he could ride this one out. But by the way these attacks were progressing in intensity he severely doubted he could do that anymore.  
  
Finally the last deadbolt was unlocked and he opened the door, almost falling in the process. He stumbled to his room where the shots were stashed in a vent behind his bed. Thankfully he still had some of the strength his enhanced muscle structure had given him, as he pulled his bed away from the wall. He knelt down and ripped off the vent, not caring that he ripped off some of the drywall in his haste. He pulled out a small vial and a needle. Within the small bottle there was the precious liquid, but Zack noted that his supply was surprisingly low. At that moment however, he couldn't care that he would run out soon. Right now, he just needed some of that in his body.  
  
The valued items now in his positions he sat down in his bed. He filled the needle and was happy to see that there was about another shot's worth left. Setting the needle down, he pulled his jacket sleeve off, and rolled up his sleeve. The tourniquet was around his bicep with practiced ease, but with his unsteady hands the knot was more of a challenge. But Zack was determined and within moments the knot was tight and the veins were already filling with blood exposing their location.  
  
After a few more slaps on the crook of his arm, he took up the needle and pierced it through his skin and injected its contents into his bloodstream. Like every time before the fluid rushed through his veins and again his body was his to control. He fell back onto the bed, his eyes half closed with ecstasy, his breathing deep and calm. In the depths of his mind, he was lost in a happiness he could not describe. There were no worries when he knew his body was his to command. The injection made him, if only for a little while, the master of the war that he waged with his own body.  
  
He was so enveloped in his own bliss that he didn't notice something was wrong, that the injection hadn't fully worked, and he didn't hear when she entered the room.  
  
*****  
  
The room was in a state of disarray, not typical of anything in Zack's possession, but that was not what caught Max's eyes first. On the bed, that was pulled from the wall at a strange angle suggesting it was done in haste, lay Zack himself. She gasped to see him keeled over like a common druggie; his jacket half on his body, the tourniquet she had seen earlier at the diner hung loose around his exposed arm.  
  
It was slight, barely noticeable, but his left hand shook like a caffeine addict needing that first cup in the morning..  
  
"Zack?! What are you doing?" she demanded, but he did not respond. She questioned if he even knew of her presence. To be unaware of one's surroundings was a thing unheard of among the X-5, let alone Zack. Max stepped closer to him and heard a crunch beneath her foot. Under her shoe she had crushed a needle that must have fallen from his limp hand. "Zack?!" a sense of urgency came over her and she rushed to his side.  
  
With her so near he seemed more responsive, but only as though he were just coming out of a deep sleep. His eyes only widened the smallest bit and she could see his pupils focus on her face. "Maxy?" His lips formed a lazy smile.  
  
"Zack. What's wrong? What are you doing?" She stroked strands of his blonde hair back from his brow feeling the heat of his forehead.  
  
"Don't worry about it." A few more seconds and he would be fully conscious.  
  
"What do you mean don't worry about it?" her brows knit with concern, "What are you injecting into yourself?"  
  
He wanted his body to sit up and it did as it should. Quickly, like he still might have time to hide this part of him from Max, he pulled at his tourniquet and put it into his pocket, then pulled his shirt sleeve down. Before the shirt fully concealed them Max saw the track marks.  
  
"Zack, what the..." She grabbed at his arm and pulled up his sleeve again to make sure what she saw was real. But as she stared in disbelief at a Zack she could no longer recognize, a glint of glass caught her eye. "What's that?" she said, and grabbed at the small vial that had taken her attention. Zack tried to block her hand, but was too late and only had time to grasp her wrist with a hand still frail from seizures.  
  
"It's mine, Max. Put it down." His voice was calm but Max could hear the threat underneath. The vial in her possession, she yanked her hand away from his weak grip and stood up out of his reach.  
  
"What are you doing to yourself Zack? Wait..."  
  
Zack heard the sound of recognition in Max's voice as she read the label on the vial. "Give it back to me, Max."  
  
She ignored him, "This is Logan's..."  
  
"It's mine. Just give it to me." He raised his voice.  
  
"What are you doing with these? Logan needs them for his back."  
  
"Come on, Max. He's rich, he can buy more."  
  
"You stole it from him?"  
  
"That guy never liked me, do you think he would give me his medicine? I need that shit Max. Tryp doesn't work for me anymore. So just hand it over." He held his hand out, palm open, awaiting the vial.  
  
"I can't believe you stole it." She turned around to leave the room, but the familiar click of a safety release stopped her in her tracks. When she turned around, Zack stood with a Colt M1911A aimed at her forehead. Her jaw tensed at the sight but then she laughed, "What are you gonna do Zack? Shoot me?" Max held up the small vial, "You would kill me for this?"  
  
"It's mine. Put it down."  
  
"Is it that important to you? That you would kill me after dedicating your life to watching over all of us?"  
  
"Give it to me," he said, taking a step closer and stretching out his left hand, still plagued with slight seizures. Unfortunately his right hand was steady and gripped the hilt of the gun securely.  
  
"Why won't you answer me?"  
  
"Because I would!" he screamed, giving her the answer she never thought she would hear. Shocked, Max could only respond by taking a step back while she held the bottle closer to her breast. The boy who had protected her even if she didn't need it, was now holding a gun to her head over a few milliliters of liquid. What's more, though she did not want to admit it, was that she was the one to give him his first shot of the stuff. She took it from Logan and injected it into Zack's veins without considering the consequences. But how was she supposed to know that saving his life would lead him down this path?  
  
For a brief moment deep in his sapphire eyes she saw a glimmer of the Zack she knew. "I love you Max..." Then, like a candle flame snuffed out by a breeze, the Zack she could recognize was gone, replaced once again by the desperate addict she had walked in on. "Don't make me do this."  
  
"I won't let you live like this." Max said closing her eyes and holding out the bottle. Like a greedy child Zack stepped forward to gather his prize, gun still at eye level with Max. He reached out with his left hand and Max could see how it shook with tremors. I didn't know it would do this to you, she thought to herself, I just wanted to save you like you did for me. I'm sorry. Just before he was within reach she crushed the small bottle in her fist.  
  
"No!" Zack screamed, hitting her hand in a futile effort to save that last precious amount. Her hand knocked open, he could see the blood that welled where the shards of glass had punctured the skin of her palm.  
  
Max inhaled sharply as the liquid seeped into her blood stream. She could feel the warmth spread from her hand, through her veins, and up her arm. With the warmth she could feel the strength it gave her and the elation that came with knowing one's body was reaching its full potential. But only a small amount entered her body through her wounds and heat stopped at her shoulder and began to fade.  
  
She could not imagine what sort of bliss an injection straight into her vein would have given, but she knew that if there had been more, she probably would have been lost in the feeling. So that was what Zack craved. If he went through this on a grander scale, no wonder he became addicted. But it was she who gave him that first injection, she got him hooked.  
  
"You bitch. My tryp doesn't work! You want me to die?"  
  
"No, but you need something better than this."  
  
"You felt it, you know there's nothing better." He stepped toward her once more and pressed the cold barrel of the Colt to her forehead. Even the Manticore born could not move quickly enough to avoid a bullet shot at point blank. Max took her hand and wrapped it around the gun, her blood smearing against the cool metal, and held the Colt tight to her brow.  
  
"If your gonna do it...aim well."  
  
They locked glares, a battle of fire and ice.  
  
For a brief second Max could see his cold exterior falter as he considered what he was about to do. Seeing what could be her only chance she did not hesitate. She hit his wrist with her free hand, wrenching the gun free from his grip with her bloody hand. She threw the weapon out the window hoping to even the score but she knew this was not going to be an easy battle. If he had already taken a shot of Logan's medicine…  
  
Her answer came in a blow to her solar plexus with such force she was thrown across the room.   
  
"Why did you have to do that Max?"  
  
When she was back on her feet, Zack was already standing infront of her, fists at the ready. Max ducked as Zack threw a punch, and missing his aim his fist went through the wall. Using both feet from her crouching position Max gave Zack a quick kick to the gut, pushing him away to give herself some room. With a practiced ease that she shuddered to think about, she slipped into the battle mode that Manticore training had instilled in her.  
  
Zack, barely winded, aimed a roundhouse at her face with such speed that she barely had time to deflect it. In a counter attack Max aimed at the knee of the leg that now fully supported his weight. The joint buckled at the attack but Zack leapt up in the air performing a backward flip. He landed in a crouching position and shot his leg out in a sweeping kick which Max jumped, leaping over Zack's head. The move was not as clever as she anticipated as Zack grabbed her wrist, pulled her straight out of the air, and slammed her into the ground. Not willing to give up she swung her legs up and held his neck between her knees. Using all the strength she could muster she pulled her legs back down, flipping Zack to the ground in the process. After a swift kick to his face, Max released him and stood once again, wiping the blood from her lip.  
  
Zack, too, got to his feet, but paid his wounds no attention, it even seemed like he enjoyed the taste of his own blood. After only a moment's pause he attacked her once again with a barrage of kicks and punches that Max could scarcely see, let alone avoid, they were so quick. It was like she was fighting Raven again. Feeling a wall against her back Max leapt up and kicked at his head. An attack he easily blocked. When she landed again she could feel his arms snake around her neck from behind. His muscles tensed and, by doing so, tightened around her neck. She elbowed him the gut, pulled at his arm and stomped on his foot, but nothing could loosen his grip.  
  
His mouth only an inch from her ear he whispered softly, "Don't follow me Max." And that was the last thing she heard as stars exploded in her eyes and she fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  



	24. Preperations

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Dr. Marion questioned for the fourth time as they drove back to the hospital.  
  
"What? Being virtually naked, attached to machines monitoring every movement I make while a bunch of fully clothed doctors tell me to walk around? Nah, it'll be great," he smiled.  
  
"It may take a while, so if you really don't want to…"  
  
"I'm joking Alyssa. If the board approves and you can get your treatment out of the experimental phase and into widespread practice, I would be happy to help."  
  
*****  
  
The room the Triumvirate held their meetings was dark save for the far wall, which held a rotating 3-D image of Donovan. The top corner of the display read: Project Nemesis.  
  
"His skeletal system," the eldest of the three held a remote to the image and the model of Donovan was stripped down to his bare bones, "is fifty percent more efficient than the X-6. He can run faster, jump higher, and fight harder than anything we have created to date. Unlocking his genetic code is essential to the success of Manticore."  
  
"He also has an immeasurable healing factor which could prove useful for Stage Three." The only female member of the triumvirate held up her own remote and the bottom corner of the screen showed a time lapsed film of an deep incision made into Donovan's arm. According to the time frame, it healed in less than half an hour. "If we can understand his genetic code we can enhance the others via retroviral genetic treatments."   
  
Again the image of Donovan changed this time showing the circulatory system. "Lung capacity comparable to a dolphin as well as enhanced hemoglobin. He could hold his breath for forty minutes," the first man added.  
  
"The only thing we could have predicted that would have arisen from the mating of 5k and 5z would have been his O-neg blood," the woman laughed. She could see the irony in the fact that despite the unpredictable and volatile nature of reproduction, it had produced the prototype they have been striving for since the inception of Manticore itself.  
  
They all paused to let the gathered information set in.  
  
Finally the third spoke, "I believe we should wait until we see him perform in the field. If he establishes that he is as lethal as we believe him to be there might not even be a need for stage three. Either way we need to secure his loyalty. We should proceed with Operation Lock Down."  
  
"Are we sure we are willing to make that sacrifice?" the lady questioned.  
  
"It is all in the name of progress," the third of the three tried to assuage her concerns.  
  
"Agreed, the message has been sent to Lydecker." the other man spoke.  
  
"Speaking of Lydecker, I have another matter to bring up," the woman said, "concerning Major Mathews."  
  
*****  
  
"Major," Lydecker addressed his inferior without standing. He was, as of yet, still too weak for even such a simple movement, but he demanded he be placed in his office. "The Triumvirate believes that today seems like a good day to proceed with Operation Lock Down." The major could hear the distaste in Deck's already sour voice. It seemed Ty was not the only one who disliked the idea. "Debrief Eden on her duties and make sure to tell Ty that X-5k must be conscious and able to … perform."  
  
"Yes sir." Mathews turned to leave. He could not stand being under this man's command again.  
  
"And Major." Deck's words stopped Mathews just before he exited the office, "I will talk to you later about the deployment of X-6r."  
  
Poised to leave the room Mathews replied, "Yes sir." He did not bother to turn around before he left the office.  
  
*****  
  
Max came to an hour later, her head throbbing with pain. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts and remember where she was. Canada. The loft. Then she remembered what had transpired. Zack had gone berserk with rage when she had crushed the bottle. Around her the room told a different story. There was no trace of a battle, let alone Zack. His clothes were gone, the bed was back in its original position, and the sheets were straightened. Only the whole in the wall where Zack's fist had gone through hinted at a fight. However, looking down at her still bloody pal Max remembered all too clearly; the look of a killer in Zack's bloodshot eyes that looked hauntingly natural for Zack. The thought sent shivers up her spine.  
  
He had whispered something in her ear. "Don't follow me," he had said. Follow him where? But she didn't have to think too hard. An addict desperate for his next hit would go back to the source…  
  
With Zack in that state of mind Logan could be in some serious danger. Max went to her room and gathered her things together, slinging the pack over her shoulder. She also picked up Raven's sack which lay in the corner, packed and ready to go at a moments notice, just as Manticore had taught them all.  
  
After a quick sweep of the loft to ensure she hadn't forgotten anything essential, Max took her ninja down the stairs.  
  
*****  
  
Now standing exactly four feet, Donovan stood with Fox and Quince at the bottom of the tank. Their feet were chained to the floor and there was a good four feet of water above their heads. Donovan loved this drill. The pressure of the water all around him was oddly comforting. It could also have to do with the fact that he could easily outlast any of his siblings at holding his breath. He closed his eyes and relaxed.  
  
By his judgment six minutes had passed and he could sense slight vibrations in the water informing him that one of the other two had reached their limit and was struggling for air. After a few more seconds the devices that held their ankles released their grip and around him Fox and Quince shot up to take a gasp of air. Not yet needing to replenish his lungs, Donovan stood where he was, looking up at the instructor who still had the timer in his hands.  
  
*****  
  
"So where are you from?" Ethan asked as he chomped down on his sub.  
  
"Well, I was born in Wyoming, but I've traveled a lot in my life."  
  
"Yeah," Ethan's interest was peaked, "Like where?"  
  
"Let's see…" she paused to think. Assassinations in "Tibet, China, Japan, Germany, Spain, South Africa, Cuba, Hong Kong." Recon in "Congo, Somalia, Russia, Ivory Coast, Fiji, Australia…the list does go on…"  
  
"Are you an army brat or something?"  
  
"Yeah," Raven smiled, "I guess you can say that."  
  
There was no time for further discussion as Max burst into the Subway. Her eyes frantically searched all the booths until they finally came to rest on Raven. It was then that she saw the cut on Max's lip and the bruise under her eye. Much to Raven's surprise, Max used a few generic hand signals which conveyed urgency and trouble.  
  
Ethan's back was turned to Max, but he did see the concern developing on Raven's face. "What's wrong."  
  
"I have to go," she stood, grabbing her jacket as well.  
  
"But you haven't even eaten…"  
  
"I'm not hungry. I have to go." She faintly smiled down at Ethan who was still sitting in the booth. "Thanks for lunch. It was nice knowing you."  
  
"What do you mean, are you not coming back?" but his question was too late as Raven had already left.  
  
*****  
  
"What's wrong? Has Manticore found us?" Raven asked as she secured her helmet.  
  
"No, Zack has gone back to Seattle."  
  
"Why would he do that? It's not safe."  
  
"It seems he is addicted to Logan's medicine. You know, the stuff I injected into him the night you brought him to the penthouse."  
  
"Wait, then how did you get a cut lip? Zack didn't fight you did he?" Though Max didn't answer, Raven knew her guess was true.  
  
"We gotta get back there soon. If Zack gets there… I just hope, for once, Logan isn't home." They blazed down the streets on the highway to Seattle.  
  
*****  
  
"Are you ready, soldier?" Ty said to Eden who stood before him. She held tight to two straps of leather that hung from the ceiling, each strap wrapped two or three times around each hand.  
  
She smiled. "I'm a big girl now Ty, I can take it. I'm just wondering if you can handle it. Try not to wuss out on me, 'kay guy?"  
  
"I wouldn't me teasing me if I was in your position," Ty laughed, handing Eden her mouth guard and waiting until she had it positioned properly.  
  
Eden nodded to confirm she was ready; a look of determination filled her eyes and her hands gripped tighter around the leather straps.  
  
Ty took a deep breath, and curled his hand into a fist. Mere moments later he punched her with such force her head turned to the side. Eden righted herself and after another well placed punch her lip split open, red liquid staining her pale skin and falling down on her uniform. Satisfied that he had drawn blood, Ty pulled back his fist aiming his next blow much like an artist planned his next stroke on a canvas.  
  
*****  
  
At the first checkpoint they were forced to pass through, Max noticed the guard seemed to be favoring his right hand. Whenever he had to move it he winced at the effort.  
  
"What happened to you?" She asked casually as they took her card and ran a quick background check.  
  
"Nothing," the guard replied busy staring at the computer screen.  
  
Raven tapped Max on the shoulder and pointed at the small hut where another guard was talking on the phone. Max focused her hearing on the second guard.  
  
"Two hours ago…Uh huh…South on a motorbike…Uh huh," the man nodded to himself, "Yeah he was about five ten. Uh, dirty blond hair, medium length…Oh right, yeah, caucasian…Age? Ah," he squinted his eyes as he thought. "He looked to be about late teens, early twenties…What was that now? … Oh no, he didn't steal anything, he just seemed to be in a hurry. But he was carrying a gun. Hold on, my buddy…Yeah the one who got attacked, knows what it was. Just hold on." The man put down the phone and picked up another.  
  
Almost instantaneously, the phone beside the first guard rang, and he picked it up just as quickly, "What is it now? … I'm pretty sure it looked something like a Colt M1911A. Is that all? … Alright then. Bye." He hung up the phone and turned his attentions once again to the computer screen.  
  
What are you doing Zack?  
  
"Uh miss?" the guard interrupted Max's thoughts, "here you go, you're free to pass."  
  
Max didn't give the gate enough time to fully rise before she bolted down the street in an urgent game of catch up.  
  
*****  
  
"And how are you today, Kat?" Ty entered the room where Kat lay. It had white padded walls, but at least this time Kat was free to move around, and there was no constant streaming of propoganda.  
  
The only response Kat gave was a glare in Ty's direction.  
  
"Still not talking are we?"  
  
Again only a glare.  
  
"Eden," he called over his shoulder, and a small fragile looking girl stepped into the room, her face bruised and bloody, her uniform bloody and torn. Kat did not know what to make of this, as the girl approached her. All she could think to do was curl up and hug her knees tighter. The one called Eden came to Kat's side and began to stroke her hair, like a loving mother. And in the most bazaar show of affection, Eden put her arms around Kat and hugged her tightly, smearing some of the blood onto Kat's face. Kat was so repulsed that she wanted to shove the girl off, but she was too afraid to move.  
  
Finally the girl released her, and exited the room as if nothing had happened.  
  
"Well," Ty turned to leave the room as well, "At least your son is a little more cooperative. He's turning out to be quite the soldier."  
  
"No!" That pushed her over the edge and she forgot how scared she was. Kat leapt at Ty, as if stopping him would return her son to normal.  
  
Ty was not surprised as he turned around and blocked the attack. Needing to vent all her frustrations Kat continued to pursue Ty with punches and kicks. All which, much to her chagrin, he easily blocked.  
  
After a minute of this it seemed Ty was getting bored. He grabbed her wrist as she punched at him, and pulled her toward him into his waiting knee. Winded, Kat grabbed at her stomach and fell forward. She would have hit the ground had Ty not caught her throat in his one hand. The action was not meant to save her as he lifted her up and slammed her onto the ground on her back. Her head hit the ground hard, and had it not been for the padded surface her skull would have surely cracked.  
  
As he kneeled over her, Kat could see the smile on his face.  
  
"Excellent," was all he said before he left the room, leaving Kat to wonder, what exactly had just happened.  
  
*****  
  
An hour later the guards at the next station were in much the same shape as the one before. Again another guard inside the hut was reporting the incident. But this time she didn't want to believe what she heard.  
  
"Yes, I got that last warning… uh huh… yeah… but I'm telling you, that guy must not have seen the guy clearly…same gun…motorbike, yup… heading south…everything else matches… but the guy was clearly in his thirties… ma'am I'm not the only one who saw…yes, all eight of us agree on that age…yup…I understand it could be a different guy but what are the chances of that…no don't put me on hold… Damn!" Obviously frustrated the officer hit the phone against the desk. He yelled out the window to his workmates, "Can you believe this? They aren't believing me!"  
  
"You're good to go miss," the officer said, returning the card to her possession. "And you better watch out for you and your sister here, there's a crazy guy running around with a gun."  
  
"Yeah, thanks for the heads up." Max said, tucking the card away in her pocket.  
  
Max smiled but her mind was racing. There was no way Zack would succumb to the rapid aging syndrome, he was so strong…  
  



	25. The Hunt

In his uniform Donovan stood third in line, feet shoulder length apart, hands behind his back, at ease. The drill instructor was walking around them, barking out commands, and running through the skeleton overview of what had already been given during the debriefing. Donovan saw no need to pay attention as the plan of execution was still fresh in his mind. Instead he let his mind wonder onto other things.  
  
He wondered how the other team was doing. This was the first time he had been separated from Eden on an operation and he didn't know if that was good or bad, but either way he wanted to make her proud. Any moment now, if their mission was successful, Ty, Eden and the others would be returning.  
  
As though his thoughts had cued it, there was a slight rustling in the bushes. They all kept their heads straight, but turned their eyes towards the noise. It was loud enough to interrupt the instructor's speech, much too loud for team alpha to be making even if their objective was complete. They were all taught that completing the mission was not the end, and that the journey home could be fraught with peril.  
  
After another twitch of the leaves Ty slowly stepped out carrying someone in his arms. Only when he turned was Eden's face revealed. The delicate pale color of her face was replaced with black and blue, blood oozing from her lip and a wound above her brow. Her normally vibrant eyes, were shut tight, and from the way she shook, still in shock, Donovan knew she was in great pain.  
  
He was the first to approach, startling them all with his speed. "Eden?! Ty, what happened to her?" The fight must have been recent because the scent of the assailant still lingered on her body. He should have recognized the odor instantly…should have, but didn't.  
  
"Someone attacked her in the woods. It had to have been an X series in order to do this to her."  
  
"Why would another X hurt her?"  
  
"I…I don't know, Donovan." The others had caught up now and they all surrounded Eden, expressing their concern, Ty trying his best to answer their questions. Donovan said no more and instead studied Eden's battered face. There was nothing sweet Eden could have done to deserve an assault like this, especially not on a mock operation. Donovan reached down to hold her limp hand, and when their skin made contact he could see a small smile on her lips. It quickly faded as the pain overtook her senses once more and her body cringed with the ache.  
  
Whoever did this…will not leave this compound alive Donovan silently vowed to himself. Such actions against any of the X-6, his family, would not go unpunished. He stepped backward as the promise he made to Eden filled his mind with vengeful thoughts. If Eden couldn't take her revenge, he would do it for her.  
  
His breathing deepened, as he looked towards the woods. Each intake of air was like taking in pure rage that forged his heart in a blaze of hatred. A malicious smile came to his face as he sprinted off towards the woods.  
  
Now, his hunt would begin.  
  
*****  
  
Kat stumbled and fell to her knees scrapping them on some stray rocks that lay on the forest floor. Her breathing was harsh and ragged and her face shined with a thin layer of sweat. Deep within her chest her heart pounded with a speed she had only experienced a few times before, all of which were within the bowels of Manticore. Taking only a moment to look over her shoulder she forced herself back on her feet and continued her frenzied sprint. She had not been running for long and normally her body would have been able to handle the effort. It must have been that last injection Ty had given her.  
  
She could not remember much of what had happened in the past hour. And every image that did come to mind was vague. Ty had entered her room while she was taking a light nap. Though she slept like her namesake, able to wake at any sound, he had approached with such stealth she did not come to awaken until he was at her side with a needle jabbed into her arm. Before she could do anything, her body became numb and her muscles fell limp, her mind clouded until everything around her was black.  
  
Next thing she knew she lay, cold and alone, on the uneven ground of the forest, a root of a nearby tree jutting into her side. The prospect of freedom was what first drew her to her feet. She did not care to know how she was out of her cubic prison, nor did she question why. But as she ran away from the shadow of Manticore, the huge building whose bulk was ever present in the forest, something else urged her forward. Her skin crawled with anxiety.  
  
Nervously looking side to side, it seemed the trees were grabbing out at her and she could have sworn that thousands of glowing red eyes watched her progress. As dusk set the sky aflame with red, and darkness threatened the land, dread itched in her brain though she knew there was nothing to fear. A hallucinogen…  
  
And that is why she ran now. She knew what her eyes saw were fake, she knew the sounds of nameless creatures in the brush were figments of her own imagination, but terror gripped her heart and she could think of nothing else to do but flee. The urgency was so great that it seemed her senses reached beyond the hysteria and found a true threat not made of insubstantial hallucinations, but of flesh and bone. The drugs only peaked her fever and she sprinted away.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan crouched low to the ground studying the prints of his prey. He raised his nose up to the air and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. His eyes opened as he caught the whiff of whoever had injured Eden. The scent was strong with sweat and adrenaline. Again a smile curled the edges of his lips as he was closing in on his prey. The thrill of the hunt replaced his blood, coursing through his veins. His blood lust was so strong he could almost roll it around with his tongue.  
  
Soon his family would be avenged.  
  
*****  
  
Kat leaned against the rough bark of a tree. She was breathing so hard her throat was dry and she could taste the metallic tang of blood. Her eyes frantically searched around her, there was no mistake that something was hunting her. Her body had already done away with most of the hallucinogen, a process ironically sped up by the effects of the hallucinogen itself.  
  
So this time the threat was real. She had caught glimpses of what ever was stalking her through the dense wood. The first time she dismissed it as a stray predator that made its way past the gate. Each time she stopped, though she couldn't see or hear the threat, her instincts moved her to run again. Her gut feeling was one of the few things she thanked Manticore had instilled in her.  
  
She pushed off the tree and began her run again, hoping to gain distance from whatever followed her now.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan could see the back of his prey now as she leaned against a tree, her shoulders heaving as she gasped for air. Her scalp was recently shaved, and he could only tell that she was female by the distinct scent she gave off. He crouched behind a bush, like a tiger waiting to pounce. His vision blurred at the edges as adrenaline filled his blood. He did not see the features of his target, and he did not care as all the world fell away and all that remained was his goal.  
  
Before he pounced she pushed away from the tree and sprinted off again. Every muscle in his body wanted to lunge after her, he could easily close the gap with his superhuman speed.  
  
No, he whispered to the blood lust that sang within him, let her run.  
  
He would feast on her fear before taking her life.  
  
*****  
  
After running for so long her legs were numb and she could have run forever, but her lungs burned with protest. Sweat dropped in her eyes blurring her vision and she tripped over a stray root. She tried to stand but her legs refused to move any further. When she looked up she found herself in the middle of a natural clearing in the woods. Everything was tinted green as her eyes began to adjust to the dying of the light and it gave the trees a haunting glow.  
  
They stood up tall around her like sentinels waiting for some final battle.  
  
*****  
  
He had chased her long enough. If she tired any more there would be no fight to enjoy. And the clearing in the woods where she stumbled would serve as a perfect arena. If his family wouldn't watch, let the trees of his home lay witness.  
  
In one leap he landed in the middle of the clearing, absorbing with his legs he landed in a crouched position. And on steady legs he stood before his prey. His rage so great he couldn't even recognize her face, all that mattered now was his thirst for revenge.  
  
*****  
  
There was barely a sound but she could feel another presence enter the clearing. Lifting her head a gust of wind blew some dust into her eyes and they watered. She tried to identify who stood before her, from the outline it was clearly human, but through the tears all details were blurred.  
  
"Who…who are you?" She groped at the ground, trying to find a weapon of any sort because she knew that whatever this creature was that Manticore had spawned would be too strong for her to battle with her bare hands. But all her fingertips found was loose dirt and fallen leaves.  
  
*****  
  
Before him she scratched pitifully at the ground. It seemed he had chased her too long and her legs were to exhausted to move. A pity, he thought to himself, a good fight would have fed the fury within him, but he would take the kill regardless. A simple question left her lips and he stepped forward to answer her, only a few steps separated them now. She should know the name of her death. "My name is, Donovan."  
  
His target perked up at the sound of his voice. "It can't be…" she whispered faintly to no one in particular. She wiped at her eyes, tears forming to flush out whatever irritated them. Opening her eyes wide she studied his face.  
  
*****  
  
She heard his voice. He called himself Donovan. Yet something about his voice. It may have been more mature but a mother would know her son's voice no matter what age. She found her mouth quietly forming the words, "It can't be." She didn't want to believe it. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, desperately hoping what her ears had informed her of could be proven false with her sight.  
  
When she opened her eyes she felt a strange mix of elation and horror. There was no mistake about it. He may have grown a foot, but his feline features and striped hair betrayed his true heritage.  
  
Before her stood the body of her son, Cole. But she knew Cole had been changed and warped by this last week at Manticore and the son she loved with all her heart was no more. Only the creature that Manticore spawned, who identified himself as Donovan, remained.  
  
Her body froze as this stranger stalked toward her, his eyes crying murder.  
  
*****  
  
His mind struggled at the sight. Her features were so familiar and combined with her scent his thoughts darted back and forth trying to remember. She had beautiful hair before, and her features were softer. Stepping closer, he saw her quiver with fear. As was right for her to do since he could kill her with any number of simple moves.  
  
Something in his mind fought the thirst for revenge. It screamed at him from some hollow of his brain that he rarely visited. Why couldn't he remember? It was as though a barrier had been raised and he couldn't call upon anything before his life at Manticore. Until this point he never thought that there was anything before Manticore, but now stray thoughts of his past life tried to slip under the barricade.  
  
He somehow recalled that she was kind to him, and that her arms were a safe haven. Now with in reach he could see her face was dirty from the chase. Rather unknowingly he said aloud a word that came to mind, "Mother?" He held out a hand to wipe away some of the dirt, maybe that would help to clear her face and boost his memory.  
  
*****  
  
He did recognize her! Could it be Cole still clung to life amidst the darkness that was Donovan? Cole had reached a hand out to her and almost lovingly caressed her cheek, Yes, my baby, I'm here, let's run away from this hell she thought to her self too physically and emotionally drained to make her mouth speak the words.  
  
Then fear once again sapped the blood from her face as he pulled his hand away, his fingers covered in blood… She was not injured, it was not her blood. At first she feared the blood came from her son, but then she remembered: in that cushioned cube of a room, when Eden had hugged her…  
  
*****  
  
It was then he saw that it was not dirt that smeared across her cheek and stained her clothes. It was blood. She had no cuts upon her face, so where did this blood come from?  
  
Lifting his fingertips, now stained red, he inhaled the iron scent. Immediately, with no doubt, he identified it as Eden's, and once again the blood lust engulfed him. All other thoughts were pushed out of his mind and words he had learned while among his peers flashed before his eyes.  
  
Rogue.  
  
Betrayal.  
  
Treachery.  
  
Abandonment.  
  
However one word pounded against his skull with every beat of his heart.  
  
Revenge.  
  
It was rage that now guided his body and with a speed so quick she did not see, he was behind her.  
  
The normally covert sound of a neck snapping echoed loudly in the empty woods.  
  



	26. Revelations

Back in the compound Eden got down from Ty's arms, walked over to a mirror and studied her face, tracing the edges the bruises with her finger.  
  
"So now that Kat is probably dead, will you be working with me on Project Nemesis?"  
  
"No, you have been handling him well enough on your own. Just make sure you keep it that way. He is lethal, even to us."  
  
*****  
  
They were forced to make a quick pit stop for some gas two hours from their destination. Raven took the moment to go to the bathroom and pull out the small messaging device. When she opened it the message Ty had left for her came to life again.  
  
Even hours after first reading the message, the words did not fail to sting her heart at how coldly Ty spoke of the prisoners like were rats in a laboratory. Raven swallowed at her own comparison. They were rats in a laboratory.  
  
Ty. Good to hear from you. I miss you all. This operation has been more taxing then any other. I knew Eden had it in her. And I'm sure you will break the woman soon. We are currently on the move north. Destination unknown. Raven.  
  
She stared at the words her hands had just typed. It would be the first time she had lied to any of her siblings, but she felt like she lied to them all. She loved all her siblings with all her heart. Nothing could change that. With a heavy heart torn between two worlds, she pushed the button and sent the message.  
  
*****  
  
Max raced through the familiar streets of Seattle heading straight for Logan's penthouse. Raven had informed her that she could smell Zack and something was very wrong. They had to get to him now.  
  
He had a good 2 hours on them, and Max feared for the worst. If Zack was aging as quickly as she calculate he would be close to death soon. Before dawn would break the horizon, he would be dead. Even with all the advanced technologies Manticore commanded, they did not find a fountain of youth.  
  
But she also feared what Zack would do if he found Logan. Would he still be in that desperate state of mind he was when he had held a gun to her? If he had to aim that gun again would he pull the trigger? Questions raced through her mind. She had to get to Logan now. Zack, please, she pleaded to the city around her with all her soul Don't do anything. Wait for me.  
  
*****  
  
"What shall we eat to celebrate your success?" Logan inquired, drawing a blush from Alyssa. But she had nowhere to hide in the small elevator that was carrying them to Logan's apartment.  
  
"Stop talking so optimistically or the fates will find a way to prove you wrong." She jokingly elbowed him in the side.  
  
"Definitely deserving of some pasta in a light cream sauce…"  
  
"You're really spoiling me with this food. What am I gonna do when I am forced to leave to administer treatments to new patients?"  
  
"Who's the optimist now?"  
  
Finally they reached the penthouse level and the elevator dinged politely signaling their arrival. When the doors opened an old man stood, gray hairs and wrinkles betraying his age, his back bent, his breathing wheezy. The old man's blue eyes widened in surprise as though their presence in the elevator caught him off guard. But the way his eyes lay upon them seemed to convey that he was waiting for them and not the elevator. There was something cold and threatening in this old man's gaze and Logan pulled Alyssa behind him, leaving only her eyes to peer over his shoulder.  
  
"Where is it?" the old man asked, his speech sounding no louder than each of his labored breathes. His eyes flicked back and forth between Logan and Alyssa.  
  
"Are you new to the building sir?" Logan stepped forward concerned for the senior.  
  
"Where is it?" he asked again, his voice sounding more dire.  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. What are you looking for?"  
  
"Your spine," the man paused to breathe as though such a small sentence had winded him. "Injections. Where are they?"  
  
Logan narrowed his eyes, trying to remember if he knew this man. Not many knew of the experimental treatments he was taking. "How do you…"  
  
With a shaky, hand, withered and wrinkled the man lifted a Colt M1911A, until it rested even with Logan's chest. Logan could see the man wanted to rise the gun to a more lethal aim, but his old muscles were weak and he had to settle with the heart. "You're already cured," another pause for breath, "I need it now."  
  
Only in such an aggressive position did Logan recognize the face. He had not been able to see it before, because he had not expected to come across that face ever again. But as the man stood before him, holding a gun to his heart, Logan could see quite clearly. Beneath the graying hair there still lay remnants of dirty blond. But the eyes, blue sapphires ablaze with ice, whose intense gaze could carve stone…  
  
"Zack." Logan said aloud, not as a question, but a declaration. So this must be the aging syndrome that Max had told him about. It was strange to see Zack in such a decrepit state.  
  
Logan could feel Dr. Marion step out from behind him, and the movement drew Zack's attentions. His eyes again flicked back and forth, watching both their faces, but each time his eyes lingered longer on the doctor's features.  
  
Squinting, he scrutinized her face, and, as if from shock, his eyes widened. "Dr. Munrow?"  
  
Alyssa whispered with an infinite sorrow that echoed of a buried and shameful past, "X-5z."  
  
*****  
  
His own mind pulled him into a flashback at the image of the doctor.  
  
--flashback--  
They were alone in the room, the other doctors who had severed his spine at his neck had left to convene about their next course of action.  
  
"I'm sorry Zack." she whimpered as she held him in a tight embrace. But he only felt her warmth on his face. His body was limp, none of his extremities would obey his command. It was a scary feeling being trapped in one's own body and it was the only time at Manticore he let a tear escape his eye.  
  
The doctor wiped it away with the cuff of her sleeve. "I'll heal you Zack. I didn't know they would do this to you. If I did, I wouldn't have let them touch you. I'll heal you."  
--end flashback---  
  
And she did. A treatment she had been developing was administered to him, and within the week he was as good as new. From then on Zack held her in the highest respect, confident in knowing that no matter what the others did to any of the X-5 Dr. Munrow would heal them.  
  
She was the closest thing to a mother that Zack had ever known. The others never felt the same way he did, hating all the doctors one and the same. But Zack knew Alyssa was a guardian angel in that hell. She protested against the deaths of his siblings, and only agreed to participate in the autopsies of the bodies to ensure no others would die.  
  
If anyone could help him free himself of this frail body, it was her.  
  
*****  
  
They meant to lay him down on the bed, but Zack's weak legs barely carried him into the penthouse. The couch held his mass well enough. Logan sat on the coffee table across him studying his wrinkled features. Dr. Munrow? He vaguely remembered the name from the same list of transferred doctors he had found Hannah. Alyssa was from Manticore. It all made sense. Of course Manticore would gather geniuses into its ranks. Alyssa had told him that she worked for the government. Her experiments fully funded.  
  
An endless supply of test subjects.  
  
The thought made his stomach queasy. When she had first told him of her job with the government he envisioned rats and primates, not humans. And especially not Zack…or Max.  
  
And now it was this Manticore technology that gave him his legs back. He looked down on them in disgust. The only reason he could walk was because of countless inhumane things done to the Max and the others.  
  
In front of him, Zack wheezed in pain. He was aging before Logan's eyes and unless Manticore knew how to circumvent death by old age, he wouldn't last very long.  
  
Minutes after she had left, Alyssa returned from her sister's apartment, supplies in tow. Logan tried to bring himself to look at her but found himself avoiding her eyes.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked simply, still concentrating on Zack's face. It was the first words spoken between them since Zack had recognized her.  
  
"You don't want to know," she said softly, shaking her head as she kneeled beside Zack, filling a needle with some fluid she had pulled out of her bag.  
  
"I know about Zack and I know about Manticore."  
  
Her back straightened at his words, but she did not speak.  
  
"Tell me who you are."  
  
She ignored his words and spoke instead to Zack, as she injected the fluid into Zack's arm. Her voice was soft and motherly, "This shot, should slow down the aging. Okay Zack? If I can get into the lab, I know how to make you normal again."  
  
Logan caught the unwavering trust in Zack's eyes.  
  
Alyssa packed her things away leaving only a needle and vial on the side table, for easy access. "I," she hesitated, "I was taken to Manticore a wide eyed and ambitious student. Alyssa Munrow. I didn't think they would make me do such atrocities, but there was no turning back. The only way I could try to save those kids was to stay with them." After she spoke she stayed by Zack's side, sitting on the edge of the couch, running tender hands through the graying-blonde hair.  
  
"Then why did you leave?"  
  
"I didn't want to," she finally turned to face Logan, hurt by his accusation, "I had finished all the research they needed of me and they felt I was becoming too attached to the X-6 subjects. They thought that I would try to interfere with what they were going to try next."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
"I don't know, they never told me. They let me go and monitored my research. They said if I ever revealed Manticore or tried to contact any of the rogues they would kill me. Being part of the government, they said I could easily be erased from existence." Logan heard the slight quiver in her voice.  
  
"So you're risking her life by being here now. You should go."  
  
"Logan, I've run long enough. They need me now, and I owe them so much."  
  
Zack moved beneath Alyssa's touch, his eyes opened slightly, "Mother?" He reached up to touch her face. Alyssa lay the back of her hand on Zack's forehead.  
  
"He's burning up. We need to get some wet towels."  
  
*****  
  
Thirty minutes later Max parked her ninja in the alley beside Logan's building. Raven helped her gather some debris to cover the bike. They wasted no more time, when they entered the building and headed for the stairwell. Satisfied no one was present they both leapt from floor to floor taking the flights of stairs two at a time. Within moments they were at the penthouse level.  
  
Standing before Logan's door Max looked to Raven who pointed to her nose and then signaled that Zack was inside. Both stepped closer to the door, focusing their hearing beyond the mahogany to search the inside. There was no noise loud enough to make it to her ears except for a slight wheezing. Max's breath caught in her throat. They were too late. Max kicked at the door, and it gave way under the force of her strike.  
  
Expecting to see a horrible sight and preparing herself to battle her brother once more if necessary, she froze when she saw instead, Logan sitting in the living room. From where she stood she did not see Zack on the couch nor did she realize Logan wasn't sitting in his wheelchair.  
  
Startled by the loud noise, Logan jumped to his feet and turned to the door.  
  
"Logan!? You're legs!" shock nailed Max's feet to the floor.  
  
Raven wasn't so affected and ran to Zack's side.  
  
Neither of the denied lovers moved. Max was too shocked to stir, too stunned to even look at Zack's aged body, and Logan did not know what to do or say. He had hidden his new found legs from her because he thought it would be best. They weren't supposed to return to Seattle, she didn't have to ever know what he had kept from her.  
  
Logan stepped around the couch toward her. "Max I…" he hesitated, what was he supposed to say? The simple use of his legs seemed to scare her. No, he could see in her eyes that she felt betrayed. There was an awkwardness between them that burned Logan's heart.  
  
"What the hell is … It was you. You must be Max!" Alyssa came back into the room holding armfuls of drenched towels. She continued to move toward Zack but she stopped short, almost dropping her load, when her sight fell on the black hair and icy eyes of the preteen girl now kneeling beside him. "Raven?" There was a dread in her voice.  
  
Raven was first to acknowledge her presence, "Dr. Munrow, what are you doing here?"  
  
Max ripped her eyes away from Logan to see the doctor. That name was so familiar. When the doctor was in full view Max was once again pulled into a haunting flashback.  
  
Soon, she found herself wandering a dark hallway. A door was ajar at the far end of the hall, a sliver of light spilling through. Curiosity took over and she stealthily made her way to the source of the light. Peeking through the crack she saw Randy's naked body laid out on a sterile metallic examination table. His chest was wrenched open with clamps, nurses and doctors surrounding his body, an old man requesting a scalpel had one hand deep into the open cavity.  
  
Above Randy's head, watching the whole operation, stood Dr. Munrow.  
  
"Stay away from him!" Max said, briskly walking past Logan, careful not to touch him.  
  
"Max, calm down. She could be the only one who can save Zack." Raven tried to be the voice of reason. In any normal circumstance it would have been absurd for a thirteen year old to be the one to calm the room down. But there was nothing normal about this. Having Raven defend her caught Dr. Munrow off guard. Seeing Raven she felt her death upon her so quickly. But maybe she had judged wrong. Since the girl had come in with Max, maybe she was no threat. The Doctor kept a wary eye on her regardless.  
  
"Murderer. I saw you operate on my dead brother, Randy. Do you remember Randy?"  
  
"I only did it to find a cure so that no more would suffer the same fate. You have to believe me." Alyssa held her hands up in a show of submission.  
  
"Believe her," Zack coughed. He wanted to say more, to explain why she should be trusted, but his hacking fit would not permit it.  
  
Finally Max turned to Zack and took in the sight fully for the first time. Her mind did not want to believe anything that had occurred tonight. It was too much.  
  
Max escaped into the kitchen, trying to collect herself and be strong.  
  
*****  
  
Logan watched as Max turned to leave the room. He could not stand to see her walk away from him again. As quietly as a human could he followed her. She leaned against the counter, her body mimicking how tired her mind must be. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, feel her body against his once again. But Logan hesitated, his actions helped to put her in this state; would she let him comfort her?  
  
Finally, knowing he stood behind her, she broke the silence. "How are you walking?"  
  
Logan found it uncomfortable talking to her back, but answered her question nonetheless. "Alyssa. Dr. Marion," he stopped and corrected himself, "Dr. Munrow had the cure. Dr. Carr told me about an experimental treatment. I decided to do it, and well, it worked."  
  
All she did was nod, and for a few agonizing heartbeats the awkward silence returned. "Why didn't you tell me?" In her voice Logan could hear the hurt he had seen earlier in her eyes.  
  
"Because I couldn't hold you back Max. You weren't safe here, and you had enough on your mind. You didn't need to know." Despite his earlier hesitation he could not help himself and stepped closer to her.  
  
Her hair still hid her face from his view. "So you didn't tell me to save me? Don't you think I can make my own decisions?"  
  
"I know you can, but…"  
  
Max cut him off, and turned her head to face him. "I would've stayed with you."  
  
Again he found himself grasping for words.  
  
"If you had told me anything I would have stayed. Logan, I needed you."  
  
He did not have to hear anymore. Logan took those last two steps that separated them and encircled his arms around her, pulling her into his warm embrace. Max pressed her cheek into his chest and pressed her body against his. The soothing sound of his beating heart comforting her just as it did those many nights ago. "We're here now," He whispered to the top of her head, "and that will never change."  
  
Her muscles relaxed beneath his hands, and she pulled back slightly. A solitary tear made a trail down her beautiful face.  
  
"You can't promise me that." Her words were soft and yet so cold he could almost feel her build a wall between them. Using her arms she pushed against his chest with just enough force to break free from his hold.  
  
She left him in the kitchen to return to Zack's side. This time he did not follow. 


	27. Reflex

"Where did Raven say she was?" Fox asked as they headed back to their rooms. Lydecker had learned from the X-5 and had assigned each X-6 their own room rather than a communal sleeping area.  
  
"She said she was heading north to Canada," he replied with a shrug of his shoulder.  
  
"When did she tell you that?"  
  
"No to long ago. Why the inquiry?"  
  
"I was on hacking duty today." Fox was always inclined to computers. "I was checking out some hover drone vids. I saw Raven."  
  
"Yeah? So?"  
  
"In Seattle."  
  
"Are you saying she lied to me?"  
  
"She's in deep ops working with the rogues. Living like them for well over a week now. The way they think of Manticore—"  
  
Ty cut him off, "Are you saying they turned her?" Ty had never thought of the possibility, and he felt anger rise in his throat for Fox even implying such a thing. Raven was the strongest of will and character among them all. She would never turn against them. Never. But Ty held his anger back. Manticore had taught him that assuming or dismissing any information would mean death out in the field.  
  
"I'm saying we shouldn't assume she hasn't at least been exposed to their propoganda."  
  
Ty let the thought roll around in his brain. For the safety of the majority, Ty could not set aside his brother's words. Still, the thought of Raven…  
  
"If they've tainted her…" Ty left the rest to the imagination.  
  
*****  
  
When Max sat down on the coffee table across from the couch Dr. Munrow gave her an update. "We need to get him to a laboratory now. I can heal him, but we are running out of time." She lifted another warm towel from Zack's bare chest and replaced it with a cool one.  
  
Despite her heartfelt words, anger still bubbled over in Max's heart. The bloody image of Randy still fresh in her mind. Alyssa sensed her unease but remained silent. Zack was the main concern now.  
  
But the tension in the room was like a tightening noose. Max despised Alyssa, with good reason, and Alyssa could not bring herself to trust Raven as much as it seemed that Max did. She feared for her life with the X-6 girl around. Raven lead the X-6. She was the strongest and most loyal soldier to Manticore. Dr. Munrow had witnessed this while at the compound. When still a doctor at the compound, she had tried to bond with the newest generation just as she tried with the X-5. Though many warmed to her efforts, Raven only ever seemed satisfied with the doctor's work. If she had shown emotion, it was too slight for Alyssa to sense.  
  
The only difference between that heartless soldier and the girl that stood before her now was that rather than a practical ponytail, her hair hung loose about her shoulders, an ebony waterfall down her back. She may have abandoned the tight elastic that held her hair back in constant preparation for combat, but did that mean she also abandoned the soldier within?  
  
The doctor didn't want to second-guess Max's judgment but she could not help questioning Raven's loyalty. Could it be possible that Raven had changed, no longer in Manticore's grip? Or was there a traitor in their ranks?  
  
*****  
  
The Triumvirate sat in the council room, once again darkened as the wall this time displayed snapshots of Kat's limp body.  
  
"He wasn't as efficient as I thought he would be."  
  
"From the reports it seems that he was..." she searched for the word that held the right connotation then smiled when she found it, "playing with his prey. On a regular operation that is not entrenched in personal matters, I'm sure he would prove his effectiveness."  
  
"Project Nemesis has proved himself lethal and loyal to the X-6 and therefore to us. All the objectives of Operation Lockdown have been satisfied. I would say it was a success."  
  
"Onto other matters then," the younger male moved the conversation along, "Major Mathews has proved his worth in Lydecker's absence. I feel he would be our best choice to take over the reins of Project Nemesis."  
  
The woman nodded, "I agree, Lydecker is too preoccupied with the X-5, he has not utilized our resources to the capacity Mathews did when he was in control. He assigned the X-6's according to their specialized abilities, and forty percent more operations were completed then when under Deck's control."  
  
"Lydecker is too protective of his 'children'. That will be his downfall."  
  
"If Deck cares only for the X-5 we should just let him continue working on what he is passionate about. I move for Mathews to take over control of the X-6 as well as Project Nemesis. His initiative is great even at such a young age. He could be the best bet when Manticore moves into Stage three."  
  
There was a brief silence as the other two weighed her suggestion.  
  
"I agree."  
  
"I as well."  
  
"Well, gentlemen, it's getting late," the lady rose from her chair, "I will inform Mathews of his promotion tomorrow. For now I'm sure we all have our own things to get back too. Good evening." She excused herself with a curt nod and left the room, the others following soon after.  
  
*****  
  
Logan still stood there in the kitchen, watching the others tend to Zack's needs. Every once in a while he could see Max steal a quick glance in his direction. But when their gazes met she would quickly avert her eyes and busy herself with the soaking towels. Each time Logan could see no passion in her fiery eyes, but instead a deep running sorrow.  
  
Don't push me away now that we have each other again. We tried that already Max. It didn't work.  
  
He saw Max say something to Raven, who then stood and approached him. Max, again, only taking a fleeting look in his direction. When Raven reached his side Logan finally looked away from Max and acknowledged her.  
  
"Logan?" Raven's voice was that of a timid child a far cry from when they had first met. "Max was wondering if you could get access codes to the lab downtown. And if it was possible to loop the security tape to cover our entry."  
  
Logan looked again to Max. It hurt more than he cared to admit that Max wouldn't ask this of him herself. "Yeah."  
  
"Thanks." Raven said, then returned to Zack's side.  
  
It was a simple matter hacking into the laboratory's data files to snatch a few security clearance codes. In fact he had done it several times before for various reasons. After preparing the security cameras to loop he printed out the access codes.  
  
"That's a nice computer you have there," the voice sounded behind him, startling him. It was just Raven and she seemed amused to have made him jump. How long had she been standing there? It was disconcerting that such a lethal force could lurk about undetected.  
  
She was already at the printer, fingering the list that was not yet fully printed. He had hoped to give it to Max's hand, but it was apparent Max had sent the girl for just this purpose. He sighed.  
  
Raven perused the list, nodding her head with satisfaction. Head still down she held her hand out to him again. "And we'll need your keys if you don't mind. I was gonna jimmy it, but I didn't want to get my hands dirty." She turned her face up to him, an expectant look on her face as though he had no other option but to give her his keys. So he handed them over as well.  
  
"Cool," she said, sounding like an average teenager. It was unnerving. Raven then handed him back the list he had printed.  
  
"Don't you need that?"  
  
"I memorized it already." Raven smiled though her brows knit with confusion, as though Logan should have known.  
  
"Also, you might be happy to hear that military convoys have been leaving the city, the activity over at Manticore's new base has died down. You should all be safe here for a while."  
  
Raven opened her mouth to speak when another voice echoed into the room.  
  
"Raven. We have to go." They could both hear Max's voice from outside and at her beckoning Raven turned on a heel and left the office.  
  
He waited only a moment before he stepped out to follow her. One step out of his office Logan looked toward the front door. There stood Max, Zack leaning heavily into her, an arm thrown over her shoulders. They were already half way out the door when she lifted her eyes to Raven. Logan willed with all his heart for her to meet his gaze, and for a brief second she did. There was a sadness in her eyes, but other than that he could not read a thing. Before, he had been able to sense everything she was feeling just being in her presence and now…now it was like she had hardened her heart to stone.  
  
Raven took half of Zack's burden from Max, taking up his other arm about her shoulders and without a word of goodbye, save a quick wave from Alyssa, they all left his apartment.  
  
*****  
  
By eight, they were on the streets, Max rode on her ninja in front of them to the laboratory. From the back seat Raven could see Alyssa's nervous glances into the rear view mirror. They were not aimed at some unseen threat that followed, but at Raven herself. She tried to pay them no attention, looking instead down at Zack's calm face, his head resting in her lap. But soon the wary looks of the doctor wore down on her patience. She had been so kind to her and her siblings at Manticore. The doctor had always tended to her family's injuries, physical and emotional. From what Raven could gather, she could have been described as motherly.  
  
Now she jumped at every movement Raven made. When Raven lifted her hand to push a lock of fallen hair behind her ear the doctor jumped as though she had pulled out a gun. Raven could understand some the unease for she herself had never displayed any sort of appreciation of Dr. Munrow's kindness. That did not mean she wasn't grateful, for she was immensely. It was clear the Alyssa's efforts were for the betterment of the group. But as a soldier, and the C.O. of the X-6, Raven had to maintain a rigidity about her and could not show such weakness as emotion.  
  
Over the past while Raven felt she had changed, and wished to tell the doctor of how thankful she was of even just the doctor's presence among her and her brothers and sisters. Sadly though, Raven knew, no words that left her mouth would ease the doctor's worries. It was obvious the doctor mistrusted her, thinking her some sort of assassin or traitor, and that she could not be easily swayed to believe in Raven's reform.  
  
It made for a quiet ride to the laboratory. The only sound within the car was the occasional moan of pain that left Zack's lips.  
  
*****  
  
Zack lay on a cold metal table similar to those meant for autopsies. His face pale, his body unmoving, he could have easily passed for a corpse. But the doctor had still insisted that they strap him down. Leather straps held down his lifeless limbs.  
  
At home in her laboratory, Alyssa set to work mixing various compounds together. She mentioned something about how she stumbled upon the cure for the rapid aging disease while doing further research on nervous damage. No one paid her much attention as they sensed she only spoke to ease her own anxiety. Zack's death was fast approaching and both Raven and Max could hear exactly how unsteady his heart was. Each beat threatened to be his last.  
  
Finally, after what seemed an eternity Dr. Munrow prepared a huge needle. At Zack's side she opened his shirt once more, feeling the left side of his chest for the best place to inject it.  
  
"Straight into the heart?" Max asked in a matter of fact tone of voice.  
  
"If it's to work quickly."  
  
Without flinching both Raven and Max watched as the doctor stabbed Zack with the needle and injected the fluid. The scene sent Max tumbling back into her flashbacks. It did not help that Zack on a metallic table similar to the one Randy was laid out on. In her mind's eye she could still see the doctor above Randy, so apathetic, so uncaring.  
  
But Max held back any words of protest at Dr. Munrow's actions here. Zack, with one of his few precious breaths, basically told Max to trust Alyssa. It was a hard thing to gain Zack's trust and keep it so he must have known something about the doctor that she didn't or he would have snapped her neck when she was within reach. In fact Max was itching to do that right now.  
  
Patiently, in silence, they waited. There was nothing much to be said between them anyways. An hour had passed since that first injection and Max noticed his breathing was less forced and his heart sounded regular. The only suspicious thing was that his skin was turning red, as though his whole body was covering in some sort of rash. It was only slight at first, but soon it grew a deeper crimson as though Zack had been thrown in a bathtub of searing water, and some parts of his skin had even begun to flake off. His body was boiling beneath his skin.  
  
There was no warning when Zack's muscles began to tense and his whole body fought against his restraints. It didn't seem possible but he turned redder with his efforts. It seemed as if he was fighting some demon in his dreams, his face clenched in pain. Max could not hold her apprehensions any further, rushed over to where the doctor stood over Zack.  
  
"What is happening to him? If you tricked us, I swear I'll…" she couldn't pick one from the many thoughts of torture and death that rose to mind. If she killed Zack Max would not have only lost one of her own, but the one person who could tell her where the others were. It would be like losing all of them all over again.  
  
"Relax Max," Alyssa's soothing tone did little to assuage Max's doubts. "His body is rejuvenating itself. Shedding off the years if you will." She waited a moment more until Zack's body finally began to relax. His face still taught with some lingering pain, and his breathing heavy. Lifting one of the wet towels they had come in with, Alyssa wiped at Zack' chest where a large patch of skin had begun to flake off. Now exposed, the new skin that was growing beneath was smooth and young. "He will be fine after a couple more hours of this," she looked into Max's eyes and held her gaze, "I wouldn't betray any of you."  
  
Max covered her embarrassment over the misdirected anger with a look of suspicion. "So he is healed, even of the seizures than?"  
  
"He won't need the tryptophan anymore."  
  
Max's shoulders slumped in defeat, this day had been taking. "Raven?"  
  
The girl turned to face her.  
  
"Can you watch over them?"  
  
Raven nodded, though she was confused.  
  
"Disable any guards that come. I just need to get some fresh air."  
  
"Where will we rendezvous?"  
  
"Logan's penthouse is close and it can house all of us."  
  
Max was already walking away when Raven questioned, "And where will you be?"  
  
"Around," was all the hint she gave as she walked out the door.  
  
*****  
  
"Are you sure you're alright?" Donovan asked as he sat of the edge of Eden's bed. He would only have a few moments to speak to her before the lockdowns on their individual cells would commence.  
  
Eden smiled at his concern, a tired look on her face. "I'll be okay. My healing may not be as quick as you or Ty, but I'll be fine." She touched her bruises and winced. "I heard you caught the intruder."  
  
"I did." His voice turned cold and callous, "I snapped her neck, she won't hurt any of us again." Eden could barely hear emotions behind his words besides a slight pride. It was haunting how Donovan spoke of killing his own mother in such a manner, and she smiled at the implication. He had reached the point of no return. He belonged to her and her siblings now.  
  
The smile still lingered on her lips as she spoke, "Thank you for what you did, I know we will all be safer with you around. But for now, I just need some rest and I'll be fine. You should rest as well. They will be locking down soon."  
  
"I will never let anyone hurt you again." His voice remained cold, but this time there was something different. He sounded obsessed. For the first time Eden understood what Ty meant. They were all lucky that Donovan was on their side. She turned on her side away from him, signaling he should leave. "Have a good rest, Donovan."  
  
His voice returned to normal; brotherly and loving, "Good night, Eden. Feel better tomorrow."  
  
She did not respond, pretending that she had already slipped into a deep sleep. Holding her breath, she waited until the weight of his body lifted from her bed and he left the room.  
  
*****  
  
Seattle looked so different and yet so familiar from her perch atop the Space Needle. From this height, with nothing between her and the endless skies, she closed her eyes as the breeze ran through her hair like a lover's fingers. The cool metal beneath her hands was oddly comforting. Like a reminder of how cold she would have to turn her heart.  
  
For the past two hours she had tried to clear her thoughts of all things, and just exist but to no avail. Thoughts of Logan found ways to intrude upon her cleared mind. They may be back in Seattle but Max knew she would forever be on the run. It was hard enough to see Logan, let alone walking. She didn't care about his legs nor did she care if he could walk again or not, because she loved him, and something so trivial wouldn't stop that. But Max knew Logan held back from her because the loss of his legs. Apparently he was ashamed thinking that he wasn't whole. Max never thought such a thing, but Logan, stubborn as ever, could not be convinced otherwise.  
  
Now that he was walking again, he would finally have the confidence that Max had been trying to carefully build for the months that she had known him. There was a chance they could finally be together without Logan's stubborn apprehensions in the way. Yet despite what every fiber of her being told her to do, she couldn't go back to him. If she felt that same unbridled passion that she did in that last kiss and then had to leave again…  
  
That would be enough to break her; heart and soul. There was no way she could survive that. The only way she could get through this would be to shut Logan out all together. It's for the best, she tried to convince herself.  
  
*****  
  
As the doctor tended to Zack's healing body, Raven edged over to her workstation. There was a strange pull on her body to the rack full of test tubes, needles, and vials. Raven wasn't even aware of her actions until she was at the counter, reaching out to the glass containers full of clear liquid.   
  
There were so many of them. One or two would not be missed.  
  
She could not explain why she wanted so badly to get her hands on some of the doctor's work. Could it be because the major had told her to obtain a sample of whatever was making Zack stronger? No. Raven would have liked to believe she was no longer under Manticore's influence. She set her own tasks now, her own goals to accomplish. Raven was in control of her own life. Yet her skin was itching to complete such a simple objective.  
  
Again Zack went into another fit, he tryed to pull away from the table as if the cool metal were the source of all his pain. He was conscious enough this time to let out a grunt of pain. The doctor worked to hold him down, though her efforts had no real effect. The commotion was loud and distracting enough to easily hide Raven's actions and before she realized what she was doing, like it were some sort of reflex, she grabbed a vial in each hand, placing them into separate pockets so they would not clink.  
  



	28. Zack's Sacrifice

A superior prototype Zack had healed quickly. Another hour was all he needed to be up on his feet again. His whole body burned with the stinging pain much like a severe sunburn. But he knew it was necessary and he trusted his life with the doctor. He stood as naked as he was the day he was born, under the shower in the back corner of lab. It was only meant for a quick douse of water if there was a chemical spill, so really he was standing is an industrial sized sink in the ground. But it helped to cool his burning flesh as well as slough off the layers of old dead skin.  
  
It was a weird feeling, like he was some sort of snake shedding his scales. But it was also refreshing after being trapped in that aged and weak body for those hours. The whole experience was a flash into the future. One day he would grow decrepit and weak, they all would eventually. Zack placed his hands on the wall in front of him, letting his head hang down, the assault of water hitting his shoulders and rolling down his back.  
  
Was that what they were doing here? Free from Manticore just to die so weak and frail? They probably could have died in a blaze of glory and honor, frozen in time as they would always be remembered: young, strong, perfect. The weight of this realization hung heavy on his shoulders. This whole time he had been protecting his X-5, he was preparing for some final battle with someone, be it Manticore, or any other threat to his family. He had always imagined he would die valiantly giving his life to save the others. But what if that final confrontation never came. He would grow weak and old and die off in some back alley. No one would care, just another old bum passed out under the rubbish. Maybe how he was going about this freedom was all wrong.   
  
Tinga knew. Zack had forbidden her to get involved with that Charlie guy, but she didn't listen and had a family. She was happy with her husband and her son.   
  
Cole. The long pushed aside images of his own son finally broke free and ran rampant in his thoughts. What he would give to be with his son again. For Cole he was willing to finally settle and live as a father, teaching his boy the ways of the world. But it was too late, Cole was now lost to Manticore who taught him the ways of war. He was probably warped beyond recognition by now. The guilt was almost enough to bring Zack to his knees.  
  
All the rest of them had it right, settling down and having a life. Maybe it wasn't the destination but the journey that was important. 'Oh god Zack, you're rehashing old clichés and sounding like a fucking fortune cookie. It's too late. I chose this life. At least the rest will be happy. I can't let anyone else be taken. It was all about them from the beginning, that's why you left. It takes some sacrifice for the better of the whole.'  
  
"I found you some…oh!" The doctor had walked in not knowing Zack had already taken the liberty of using the emergency wash, and quickly averted her eyes. Still staring at a back corner she felt for a solid surface and put down what she was carrying. "Ah, yeah," Alyssa was obviously uncomfortable with the predicament she had just gotten herself in, "I got you a towel and some scrubs. They should fit you."  
  
Raven entered just behind her. Not at all phased that her father stood stark naked in the corner. Without much concern she made her way over to a stool and sat down, pulling out a chocolate bar she got from the vending machine down the hall.  
  
"Thanks Alyssa, I'll get that," Zack said over his shoulder. He wasn't embarrassed either, making Alyssa's dilemma even more awkward, but he sensed her unease and did not turn around. Reluctantly, Zack shut off the shower and ran his hands through his hair squeezing the water out. Already the fire on his skin blazed anew. "Raven, could you toss me the towel."  
  
"Uh huh," she said, fully enthralled with her chocolate bar, never having actually eaten one before. Picking up the towel with one hand, she threw it in his general direction. Not even needing to look, her aim was deadly accurate.  
  
Zack quickly wiped himself down and secured the towel around his waste, turning to face them. "Is that cure of yours only for when the rapid aging disease is in full effect?"  
  
Dr. Munrow, still blushing with discomfort, could not bring herself to look at Zack, "No, if slightly modified it can be used as a preventative measure."  
  
Zack considered this as he walked over to where Alyssa had set down the blue scrubs. "Do you have the supplies to make enough for ten people?"  
  
"I should," she crossed the room to her workstation, thankful to busy herself with something else, "Around two hours is all I need. I could probably even get this done by midnight."  
  
"Please, doctor, if you would," his voice was almost pleading and surprisingly soft. So unlike Zack that it was enough to finally draw the doctor's attentions to him and he held her gaze with the grip of his sapphire eyes. "We need you again."  
  
*****  
  
Donovan stared out his window; every tree and rock glowed green in the night. For his short life he had never known darkness. He never feared the monster under the bed nor had he ever cried out for his mother at night. His genes forced him to grow up in weeks and Manticore forced his mind to become that of a soldier.  
  
That is all he knew now. Being a soldier. Operations and missions, weapons and combat, stealth and recon. The little baby Zack once held in his arms now stood over five feet tall and he knew nothing, or at least remembered nothing, beyond the perimeter of Manticore.  
  
They thought they have stripped him of all his memory, but they had only put up a blockade. When he was hunting down his prey the sight of the woman blurred the line between his world now and the world he was immersed in when he was young. Images and feelings that seemed like a vague dream had flooded his mind for a moment, which was strange because he did not know what a dream was. The memories only flashed for a moment before the soldier within him strong-armed them back into some obscure corner of his mind. Yet now, the ghostly images and strange emotions lingered like the insubstantial stars left after a brilliant flash of light.  
  
Who was that woman? The question hammered at him when he was alone in his room. He found himself looking out to try and find that clearing where he had taken her life, but the endless forest gave him no clue, and he suspected it was on the other side of the complex anyways. Why was he caring so much? Donovan had avenged his family. He was one of the X-6 now. He had killed the traitor for them and he would do it again.  
  
Finally, with conviction, he lay down on his bed, arms at his side. Pushing all thoughts out of his mind, he prepared for sleep.  
  
*****  
  
The scrubs fit him nicely and he stood in the middle of the room, looking like an intern who was shadowing the doctor.  
  
"I need to get out of here. It's too hot," Zack said as he looked at the skin of his arms. He knew it was just a trick of the light, or his own mind playing games, but he could have sworn that he could see tiny flames lapping up from his skin. "I'm burning up. How long will this feeling last."  
  
"Less than twenty four hours."  
  
"Raven—"  
  
The girl rolled her eyes, knowing the drill. "Keep an eye on her, take out any guards that come, meet up at Logan's place—"  
  
"No. Get Alyssa home safely, make sure you're not followed, and then get to my apartment. Do you remember where it is?"  
  
"My memory doesn't fade easily."  
  
"Are you sure you should leave? Maybe it would be best if you stayed and I monitored your progress." It was obvious that the doctor was not happy with the prospect of being left alone with the X-6.  
  
"Doctor, Raven has changed. She will keep you safe," he turned and faced Raven, looking into her gray blue eyes, which mirrored his own, "I trust her."  
  
Zack's words hit Raven like a gust of torrential wind that ripped any words from her lungs. He trusted her? Had she played her role so well that even when she had her own doubts about herself, Zack came to trust her? Enough so to leave the doctor's life in her hands? Manticore was no longer her life. No, I am a rogue now. I will do what I want to do, she forced herself to believe.  
  
"I'm sorry doctor, I need to cool my body down somehow. Besides I feel stronger than ever," he tensed his muscles.  
  
"You are," she confirmed, "This treatment has similar effects to the other. Though, not as extreme, your strength and agility has increased. It was an interesting side effect that your…" The doctor fumbled with her words, and her voice lowered to barely above a whisper, "…the others displayed." She referred to the X-5 that had not escaped and it made her extremely uncomfortable.  
  
"You saved them doctor, that is all you should concern yourself with. It was my fault we all didn't get out that night," he said, his own sadness and regret tainting his words, which he quickly hid, turning toward the door, "But now, I need to get out."  
  
Finally Raven spoke, "By the way, I saw a beauty parked in the west alley."  
  
Zack smiled.  
  
*****  
  
Zack flew through the streets, the midnight blue motorcycle he had found in the alley was beneath him. Wearing only his scrubs, the brisk breeze helped cool his skin, and he wished a fiery death to whoever cut him off or forced him to slow down.  
  
Finally he had to come to a complete stop, amused by the sight that lay before him. A black van had crashed into a fruit truck, spilling fresh fruit all over the streets. Every Tom, Dick and Sally from the streets and alleyways came to loot the scene. The large burly truck driver had to split his attentions between yelling at the members in the black van as well as trying to scare off the people who were stealing his goods. His efforts were futile, for every person he drove off another two would replace.  
  
Zack helped with the chaos as he leaned down and picked up an apple that had rolled to his feet. Wiping it on his shirt until he was satisfied, he took a bite, realizing exactly how hungry he was. As he sat there, his bike idle beneath him, crunching his apple, he looked about the city.  
  
His eyes finally came to rest on the Space Needle. There was a figure standing atop it. Focusing his eyes he saw Max.  
  
What are you doing? He thought to himself as he took a last bite of the apple and tossed it aside. When he awoke to find only the doctor and Raven at his side, he assumed that Max had left to be with Logan. Why was she instead standing alone on top of the Space Needle?  
  
Her loneliness pulled at him, and he headed in her direction.  
  
*****  
  
The sun was long gone and the city glowed around her. Max was tired of sitting, she just wanted to get out of this town. Being so close to Logan was driving her insane, she couldn't even induce a meditative state that was meant to prepare for warfare. Behind her, thankfully interrupting her chaotic thoughts, she heard some soft footsteps.  
  
"Max." The person spoke out to her. Her mind was so full of thoughts of Logan she thought for a moment it was him, warping the voice into something it was not. She turned to face her visitor and found Zack instead. Well of course, she thought to herself, who else could get up here?  
  
"Zack." So wrapped up in her foolishness she did not think to hide her disappointment. She quickly wiped the look off her face when she saw the hurt in Zack's eyes. It seemed tonight would be hard to hold back emotions. "You're looking better."  
  
"That doctor is a miracle worker."  
  
"You left Raven with her?"  
  
"Yeah, they are still at the laboratory. The doctor is working on something so that none of you will have to go through that. No more seizures, Max. Believe me it feels great." There was an awkward silence. "You're okay right?"  
  
She smiled mockingly, "Even when you were all pumped up you could barely bruise me."  
  
His brow crinkled, "Right, sorry about that…"  
  
"I know that wasn't you Zack. Besides I should be apologizing. I'm the one who shoved that first needle into your vein." She turned again to face Seattle.  
  
Zack looked down at where his arms were once splashed with track marks. They had already begun to fade. "You didn't know that there would be such repercussions. You did it to save me." Again there was a silence. He walked up til he was even with her, staring out over the city.  
  
"So what are you doing up here Max?"  
  
"I'm getting ready for the Miss America Pageant. Why? What are you doing up here?"  
  
He dismissed her sarcasm, his tone sad yet serious, "No really Max, what are you doing up here?"  
  
She looked at him, "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Why aren't you with Logan?"  
  
Even just the name threatened to release a flood of emotions which Max didn't feel like dealing with now. "Can we not talk about him please?"  
  
"You can't just leave him like that."  
  
"Why do you care?" The question came out more vicious than she intended.  
  
"I just—"  
  
"You hate the guy."  
  
"He's—"  
  
"You want me to leave him and Seattle."  
  
"I—"  
  
"And so I'm leaving. It's the best way."  
  
"I was wrong!" Zack raised his voice to finally get her attention. Having succeeded he lowered his tone to normal again. "I was wrong. It isn't the best way."  
  
"No, Zack, you were right. It's safest to keep away. Phony sentimentality and all that isn't worth it. It's all about survival."  
  
"It isn't about survival, Max, it's about life."  
  
"What are you…" she scrutinized his face trying to find some clue about what he was talking about.  
  
"We are safe in Seattle for a while. I told Raven to meet me back at my apartment." Zack could not face her, feeling her eyes study him. "If you really believe you should leave him, then tell him."  
  
"I can't face him again. Both he and I know I'll have to leave, if not now, some time in the future."  
  
Still turned away Zack shook his head. "I don't think he cares. He'll savor every moment he has with you, even to say goodbye. But, you can't just leave him like that." He hoped she couldn't tell how much it hurt him to tell her this, to tell her to go to the arms of someone else. He hoped that she wouldn't understand that he was talking about himself as much as he was about Logan.  
  
"I can't say goodbye again. It's too hard." That was it. The tears came of their own accord, and she was helpless to stop them.  
  
Zack put his hand on her back and pulled her into a warm, brotherly embrace. His skin, still hot from the injection, helped to evaporate her tears from his shirt "You have to go to him, Max. It's all about the journey."  
  
Though his words confused her, they filled her with a strength and courage, like a C.O. rallying his troupes. She pulled back, a small crooked smile appearing through her sadness. With a single nod, she broke the circle of his arms, and left. For once, following his orders.  
  
Zack waiting a few minutes to make sure she was gone. Max had broken his heart of stone time and time again. And here he was pushing her to Logan. But Zack knew pain and sacrifice was necessary for the happiness to exist. Sometimes he just wished it didn't always have to be his own pain and sacrifice. Yet that was the role he accepted when they escaped, and he took that burden upon himself again.  
  
Quietly, into the wind, he whispered, "I hope you're stronger than I am, Logan."  
  



	29. Tension

Raven was thankfully alone in the apartment, when the communicator shocked her again. It was Ty again.  
  
Rave, how are you? Where are you? Ty.  
  
After only a moment's hesitation she lead her brother astray.  
  
Ty, I'm good, this mission is intriguing me. I believe this city is Calgary, Canada. Raven.  
  
She hated that she had to lie like this, especially to Ty. So why didn't she just throw this damn communicator away? Truthfully, she couldn't. Raven didn't want to admit to herself, but not only was it a link to her siblings, but a part of the life she once had. She couldn't just toss that away.  
  
*****  
  
Alone in his room, Ty stared at the words on the screen. His muscles turned rigid and he had to remind himself to blink. I won't let them turn you.  
  
*****  
  
There was no way he would be able to sleep this night. Too much had happened in these past twenty four hours. Turns out Dr. Marion was actually Dr. Munrow, and that his legs were his again only because of Manticore technology. Zack returned a good 50 years older and, in some sort of addict's rage, had threatened to kill him. And Max…Max had finally returned to him, but was more out of reach than when she was in Canada.  
  
He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, then blinked them a few times for good measure. After staring at the computer screen for over five hours, the words began to lose all meaning, the letters becoming illegible symbols. The drug case he was working on was vitally important. Yet it seemed his mind refused to focus on the task at hand. Logan closed his eyes in frustration.  
  
Nevertheless, he knew why concentration escaped him this night. What was Max trying to accomplish by pushing him away like that? Why was she acting as though he was her mortal enemy? The soft curves of her beautiful face haunted him ever since she left for Canada and now that she had returned thoughts of her increased one hundred fold. His mind was plagued with image after image of her soft lips, silken hair, and chocolate eyes.  
  
Even now he could almost smell her sweet perfume, as though she were in the room with him now. But that was just foolish fancy, Logan convinced himself as he opened his eyes, doubly determined to complete his work this night, but to no avail.  
  
Finally Logan gave up, pushing back his chair and standing. He stood stationary for a few moments, not knowing what to do with himself. It was obvious that he couldn't work anymore, and trying to sleep wasn't even an option. If Max haunted him to this degree in his waking hours, he didn't even want to think of the dreams he would have. Soon his hunger decided for him and he headed to the kitchen for a quick snack.  
  
Though the apartment was dark, he knew his way around, so he did not bother to turn a light on. Besides, the moonlight pouring into his windows was sufficient lighting.  
  
Barely out of his office he stopped. His body realized before his mind that something was different in his living room. It took a moment for his vision to adjust to the moonlit room, and when they did his eyes came to rest on a silhouette standing in the corner facing the window.  
  
Max.  
  
The moon caressed her curves and outlined her like a goddess in the stars. He did not want to blink for fear this was just a figment of his imagination, the hopes and desires he had had all night given substance, and that if he dared close his eyes she would vanish into the night. Her head was bowed and tendrils of wavy brown hair fell over her shoulders. Logan wished he could move to her side and run his hands through her silken locks, push aside the stray curls and brush the soft skin of her cheeks with the back of his fingers. He yearned to see those chocolate eyes once more, but they were closed as though she were longing to soak in the moon's silver light, wanting to return to the heavens from where she must have come.  
  
Gods above, she was beautiful.  
  
Finally she moved, her chest rising and falling as she took in a deep breath. Logan held his own breath as though a puff of air might blow her away. She looked so delicate framed this way in the starlight. Then without turning to face him, or opening her eyes, her lips parted slightly and she spoke, "I wish I never met you."  
  
Logan did not know what to say. Surely she did not mean that. Didn't she know that she was the greatest thing of come crashing into his miserable life? All he could do was step closer in disbelief.  
  
Prompted by his silence she continued, "I was fine here in Seattle. I had my friends, and the life I made for myself."  
  
If only he could figure out what Max wanted him to say. But he was still at a loss, so she spoke again.  
  
"I could have left them. It would have stung for a few days, but I could have left them, for their safety as well as my own. I always knew one day I would be found, and I would have to run away again. Leaving everything behind."  
  
Logan couldn't stand this, he had to say something, "Max—"  
  
She paid him no attention and continued what she was saying, as though it was a practiced speech. "It has happened two times before and each time I didn't want to leave you," she took another deep breath, "And I don't want to leave you again."  
  
Logan took a few more steps toward her, his arms aching to enfold her and take her away from this world, into one where the only things to exist were them. But how could he do this when she obviously thought of him as the source of this pain? She wouldn't even look at him. What could he say to make her understand that pain was the last thing he wanted to give her?  
  
Finally he spoke softly into the silence, "You don't have to leave again. You can stay here with me."  
  
At his words Max finally opened her eyes and turned her head to face him, "Don't you understand Logan? I can't." The sadness in her eyes ran deep. "Nothing in my life is stable. Even my own fucking body isn't forever. If I don't leave today, I will leave tomorrow."  
  
"Fine, then I'll go with you."  
  
"Is that the life you want? On the run all the time. No place to call home. No luxurious penthouse or pre-pulse wines."  
  
Logan edged closer still, gaining confidence, feeling he could counter any of her arguments, "Max, I would give up everything for you. Do you think this penthouse is my home? Don't you know how lonely it is without your smile?" He looked around him, "I don't care about any of this," then he leveled his eyes on Max, "I will follow you wherever you go."  
  
"Would you follow my corpse to Manticore?"  
  
"Don't talk like that…"  
  
"How can I afford not to?" she stared at him in disbelief, making no attempt to hide her anger. "I can't hide forever. One day I'll mess up and they'll find me, and they'll haul me back to that hell. And then what will happen? Who says their stray bullets won't hit the people I come to know. Do think my soul will rest knowing I killed everyone around me? But hey," the fire in her words faded and she turned to look out the window again, "maybe it won't matter, since I'm sure genetically engineered killing machines don't have souls."  
  
Logan was drawn to her, and before he knew it he was so close behind her that only an inch separated their bodies. It took all his strength not to close that gap, he didn't want to be so presumptuous as to assume that she even wanted his embrace. But he had to at least get her to understand that he was there. With only that small space between them he wasn't sure where his warmth ended and hers began. He placed his hands on her hips and inhaled the aroma of her hair. "I know your soul, Max."  
  
She could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck and though she made no effort to push him away, she didn't lean into him either. The cologne he was wearing was intoxicating, and she closed her eyes tighter to fight what she really felt. This was the only way. "Do you know that I kill, Logan? Do you understand that who ever I let close to me has a death mark on their head?"  
  
"These threats you tell me of will never change how I feel about you. I love you Max."  
  
"What happens when you wake up beside me and it finally hits you that I was bred to be a cold-blooded assassin? Will you love me when you realize that I was born to kill?"  
  
At her words he lifted his hand and pushed aside her hair, revealing her barcode. Under his hand he could feel her body shiver.  
  
Max could not tell if it was the cold air suddenly hitting her exposed neck or the warmth of his hand that brought on such a reaction. Maybe it was her body remembering that first time he saw her barcode when they stood before the mirror, bringing to mind the lust that burned wherever he had touched her, wherever his breath had warmed her skin. Emotions that, right now, she was trying very hard to push aside.  
  
Then he leaned into her ear, their bodies finally touching, the stubble of his beard tickling her neck. With him being so close her body threatened to melt into him, the wall she had been trying to build around her heart threatened to collapse.  
  
"When I first saw you, I had to know everything about you. And when I learned about Manticore and who you really were, did I run away? Max, I love you. That means every part of you." Softly, deliberately, he kissed her barcode, the very symbol of everything about herself she loathed. Here Logan was, able to love and accept even the darkest aspects of her. It was enough to let a tear escape from the corner of her eye.  
  
Finally, she turned in his arms. Their faces were almost touching. Max barely held back a gasp when Logan's hands, still on her hips, made contact with the strip of exposed skin where her shirt didn't quite meet her jeans. Her body quivered under his touch.   
  
"No, you can't love me." Max truly meant what she said, but her voice was weak. The flood of emotions refused to be held back any longer.  
  
"Please, Max," his whisper was gentle yet desperate "Don't push me away."  
  
Their lips hovered closer to each other, waiting for that moment to finally meet. "I won't let you love me…" Her own voice held no more power as her true emotions broke free, overpowering anything she might say. With all the passion released from the depths of their souls, their lips met in a fiery kiss.  
  
Slowly Logan moved one of his hands to the small of her back, and pulled her closer to him. She would not walk away this time. He would not let her go. If this was the only way he could convince her that he would love her forever then so be it. A kiss never lies. He let all his love make its way to his hands and lips.  
  
Max liquefied in his arms, purified into raw emotion. The heat of his hands on her skin and back prompted her to lift her own hands, one to run through his deceptively soft spikes, the other raised to his cheek to feel the scruff that she had missed so much. This was how it was supposed to be that first night standing before the mirror. Why had they denied themselves this for so long? It felt so right, so natural. Letting her true feeling reign over her body, one of her hands fell from his chiseled chin to his shoulder. Lazily, with a feather-light touch, her hand made its way to his pec, and after lingering for a moment, drifted down to the hem of his sweater.  
  
By now Logan's lips had made a trail of light kisses from her lips to her neck. He could taste the salt when he lay a kiss down where her tear had fell. He caressed her flesh with the hand still at her hip, and she bit her lip to hold in a moan.  
  
At this point her body was screaming at her to do something. A calling she could not bring herself to deny, because her heart and her mind wanted it just as badly. So timidly she snuck her hand under his sweater and rested it on his firm abs.  
  
It was his turn to gasp. Her hand was hot on his skin, and it only caused him to kiss her with an increased fervor. On his lips she could taste the salt of her own grief, but that feeling was so distant now, she couldn't even remember crying.  
  
Max's kisses, too, increased in urgency and Logan, if it were possible, held her tighter.  
  
There was no warning when she abruptly broke free of this passionate embrace. It was like an arctic breeze blew over the parts where Max's body once was. Logan looked to her, confusion and hurt evident in his eyes. He did not raise his voice above a whisper; he was too puzzled to speak any louder, "Max, what are…"  
  
"Shhhhhh," she hushed him, her voice enticing, lightly placing a finger on his lips and then teasingly tracing them with her fingertip.  
  
The motion was so sensual that he closed his eyes and, not knowing what else to do, kissed her finger, wanting more than anything for her warmth to return to him.  
  
Careful not to let their bodies touch, she leaned in again and placed a delicate kiss, in stark contrast to the heated ones previous. At this Logan's eyes flew open, and searched her face. What did that mean? Was she leaving him again?  
  
Deep in those chocolate eyes he could see the fire and passion return. It was all he could do to keep his hands down. Logan wanted so desperately to hold her again, wrap her in his arms. But he was scared of what this meant. If he moved, would she run away again and break his heart? That was something he did not dare risk, he did not want to tempt fate. Besides, he had told her time and again, how he felt. He loved her and she knew it. It was now her choice to leave or stay.  
  
His answer came as she lowered her gaze and stepped past him, their arms brushing. Logan closed his eyes and could not bring himself to move, he could almost feel his heart break in his chest. How could he live without her? They tried this already, what was she trying to do?  
  
Before he could actually break down he felt her hand on his shoulder. What now? Was she trying to comfort him before she left him forever? What good would that do? Slowly he could feel as her fingers gently drifted from his shoulder down his arm, and entwined themselves with his own.  
  
Tenderly she pulled at him. He turned around and saw that crooked little half smile that never failed to drive him crazy. No words were needed to convey her intentions as she took a step toward the bedroom. Logan could not hold back his own smile of relief, following her wherever she might lead.  
  
No, there was no way he would be able to sleep this night. Not with Max in his arms. Around them the world fell away, and all they had were each other. That night the moon halted its endless march across the sky, and time came to a standstill.  
  



	30. Beyond the Ninth Gate

It was five in the morning. The first glimmer of light that heralded the sun's arrival had barely lifted night's cloak. Donovan was wide awake and staring out his window once more. He had not slept well at all that night. Despite his best efforts he could not remember what in the night had disturbed his rest.  
  
As he looked out on the world, the green tinge of his night vision began to fade with the first morning rays. This was not the way a soldier behaved. Finally he ripped his eyes from the forest, getting down on the floor to begin his morning ritual of 300 pushups and 500 sit-ups. The effort did not tire him, but was meant instead to get him into the mind frame of a Manticore operative.  
  
*****  
  
It was just past dawn when Mathews walked the halls of the lower levels of Manticore. Sublevel 6 to be exact. One of the Triumvirate had left a message to meet her here. The three persons that lead Manticore were shrouded in even more secrecy then Manticore itself, that their names were unknown to even Lydecker. He didn't even know if he would actually meet one of the Triumvirate or if they would send a messenger in their stead. A meeting like this was unheard of, or at least never mentioned openly, and the thought made him a little jumpy.   
  
It did not help his nerves that she had asked to meet him here, on this particular sublevel. The whole stretch of hallway was lined on both sides with huge cells. Sublevel 6 is were the preliminary experimentation of stage three took place. All that stood between Mathews and the disfigured shells of humans was a four inch layer of plexiglass.  
  
He stared at the first attempts to incorporate technology with human flesh. The first humans they experimented on were young bums off the street. Now they were lumps of flesh horribly warped by jutting bits of metal. They were reminiscent of the Borg from the pre-pulse show Star Trek. Their heads were shaved, their skin pale and dry, their lips cracking. In parts of the skull metal replaced scalp, under the skin strange bumps occurred where the bodies tissues began to reject the foreign objects, wrapping them over and over again with scar tissue until a strange growth could be seen. These first ones were grotesque creatures that turned into less than zombies. Mathews could feel his stomach twist. Failure never settled well with him.  
  
As he walked further, it was like watching the evolution of man from the humble origins of an ape. When Manticore finally realized that genetics could be the answer to the compatibility between human and machine, the experiments of the X series began. Because gene splicing technology was so poor when they were created that the X-1's and 2's were so un-enhanced they would easily pass for human. They were no faster than the average woman, no stronger than the average man, no smarter than a person of their age. They were useless. All the first scientists had succeeded in was enhancing the healing factor, which proved useful later on when Manticore began to fiddle with techno-implantation. Yet still at this point the geniuses that Manticore had gathered still didn't know how to properly wire the human brain. So these too, turned into mindless zombies.  
  
Later, which was only a few years ago, when the X-3's were deemed "out of date" a more streamline method was used. The creation of nanotechnology was implemented instead of actual implantations. The nanoprobes healed the body from within almost instantaneously. Bullets shot into the patient would be broken down faster by the nanoprobes and used to by them to create more of the microscopic machines.  
  
By the time all the X-3's were used advancements in understanding the brain advanced with leaps and bounds. Last year, when stage three turned her head toward the X-4 the nanoprobes were easily programmed and integrated into their bodies. At will, just by thinking it, the X-4 became stronger and faster as the nanoprobes increased adrenaline flow through the body. Pain was no longer an issue for when any pain receptor in the entire nervous system was set off, the nanoprobes would be just as quick to help release and transport dopamine, the body's natural pain killer. There were so many more untapped possibilities, but even newly enhanced as they were, the X-4 were still weak.  
  
"Prompt as always, Major." The woman he was waiting for greeted him with a nod, drawing his attention away from the X-4 prototype. Though the woman was older, the few streaks of silver on her face showed this, her face was little marred by wrinkles, it was as though she had never used her face to smile or cry before.  
  
"I aim to please…" Mathews left the sentence open in hopes this woman would reveal her name, but she did not notice. Either that or intentionally ignored his efforts. It seemed the Triumvirate would remain nameless.  
  
"I'm sure you must be curious as to why I wanted to meet you."  
  
"I must admit, ma'am, my interest was peaked."  
  
She smiled a smile so minute Mathews did not even notice it. "The Triumvirate has reviewed your performance during Lydecker's absence. We all think highly of you Major. Objective completion was up drastically, as well a mission success. It seems you know your X-6. You use them well."  
  
"Deck," Mathews straightened his shoulders mentally reprimanding himself for slipping into a casual mode with one of the Triumvirate, "I mean Colonel Lydecker never understood how to utilize their specialized capabilities."  
  
"That is what we are here to discuss. We have decided you would be best fit to take over control of the X-6. This, of course, would also mean Project Nemesis, seeing as they are so intertwined."  
  
Mathews was in shock. He could not help it as his jaw dropped slightly.  
  
She continued, "You must also understand that the authority of your new position is retroactive. If you see fit to take control of anything else because it will help you complete your objective; feel free to do so."  
  
All morning he had prepared himself for every scenario, good or bad, but this was beyond any stretch of his imagination. Complete control? It almost seemed like a dream.  
  
"We will be monitoring you of course. Any abuse of this power will result in your termination." Mathews could tell that meant more than just stripping him of this title. "We never hesitate to do what is necessary to maintain the integrity of this fine organization."  
  
"I … I understand." Mathews could not help but stammer and the woman's eyes bore into his skull. She was a head shorter than him and yet he found her to be the most intimidating person he ever met. It had nothing to do with herself, but more the powers she had at her fingertips.  
  
Almost casually the woman turned and looked into the cell containing the X-4 that Mathews was previously watching. She surprised him with her motherly voice, "It is a beautiful thing isn't it?"  
  
Mathews could only nod. The power he had just been handed had yet to soak in.  
  
It was a strange sight as she smiled. It looked almost as thought her face might crack with the effort. "Imagine the efficiency when they will be able to communicate amongst themselves with merely a thought. Operations would become streamlined, stealth movement of an entire group would be accomplished easily, timing would no longer be reliant on watches. That and their increased strength, speed, agility, pain resistance… They will be invincible…"  
  
Just as she spoke the word a noise behind them caught their attention. They turned to find another of the X-4 running around like a four year old child in the middle of a severe temper tantrum. The prototype tore at his clothes and kicked the wall, then fell to his knees and scraped at the floor with his fingernails like he was trying to dig through. His movements were stiff and erratic. And, though the cell was sound proof, they could see he was yelling something, and with such force his face was turning purple.  
  
Mathews' looked at the X-4 confused and shocked. Beside him, she remained fully composed, reaching into her pocket for a cell phone which she then held to her ear. "Jerry, cell 6-104. Shock him." Almost as quickly as she gave the command the X-4 clutched his skull, him mouth stretched in an agonizing scream. Seeing this Mathews was thankful that the sound was blocked.  
  
Still clutching at his skull with one hand the prototype leapt at the plexiglass with his shoulder, punching and kicking at it, desperate to get through to the other side where they stood. All the while he was still screaming in pain. "That's enough, he's gonna hurt himself. Put him under."  
  
Again, almost instantly there was a reaction from the subject. His movements became groggy and slow, his eyelids drooped and moments later he fell to the floor, his body limp.  
  
"Is he…"  
  
"Asleep. The nanoprobes in his brain triggered a reaction that released gamma-aminobutyric acid. Nature's tranquilizer if you will. Anyways, you have just witnessed a slight flaw we have yet to get a handle on. No fears, scientists are close to a solution. This nano technology will be perfected in time for the X-5."  
  
*****  
  
It was early morning when Max opened her eyes. The clock revealed it had only been two hours after they had fallen asleep. Below the sheets her leg was still entwined with his. They had finally succumb to slumber with her head on his chest and his arm wrapped around her. As she smelled in his musky scent a lazy smile came to her lips. It wasn't like she was a virgin, her heats, sadly, made sure of that. But these past few hours with Logan was like nothing she had every experienced before. It wasn't a frenzy of flesh and limb, like all the others before. It was tender, and loving, and most importantly it was she, rather than her hormones, that had control.  
  
Though she did not want to disturb him, she found her hand tracing the muscles of his body. Her fingertips traced down the line between his pecs and then lightly over his abs. She smiled to herself again, as she wondered if she missed kissing a spot.  
  
In a soft but gruff morning voice Logan quietly spoke, "That tickles."  
  
Lifting her head she met Logan's eyes, which were still half closed. "Sorry."  
  
His head fell back down onto the pillow, he must still be exhausted. "You shouldn't be. That was the best way I've ever been awakened in my life." His fingertips responded to her actions and were now lightly brushing her shoulder.  
  
Max could not hold down another smile as she lay her head back down. "Then fall asleep, so I can do it again."  
  
*****  
  
Zack and Raven made their way to the top of the building adjacent to Logan's penthouse. After telling her to stay behind he walked up to the lip of the roof closest to the apartment. Just before it came to view, he braced himself for what he might see. Max hadn't returned that night and that meant one of two things. The first being she was roaming the streets on her bike trying to get her head together and the second…well, that was what he was checking for now.  
  
It wasn't like he wanted to see it. He just wanted to get access to Logan's computer. As he lay awake in his bed last night his mind was racing with ideas. It had been too long that he tried to push aside all concerns for Kat and his son. Even if he couldn't hope to save them by himself, since the place was probably crawling with X-6, he at least had to know what had become of them. It did not matter if the news was good or bad, though he expected the worst as he always did, not knowing was far worse.  
  
Cole was strong, young as he was, and he easily defeated two of the X-6. Maybe they had escaped and were on the run. Maybe they had been fully reabsorbed into the Manticore way of life. Or maybe they were dead. Zack hoped with all his heart that, for their sake, it was the first or the last.  
  
Looking into the apartment he was relieved to find the main areas were empty, and the blinds of the bedroom were closed enough to not reveal what lay inside. Satisfied they would not disturb anyone by breaking into the apartment he signaled Raven over. In her arms she held all the gear that was necessary.  
  
*****  
  
Mathews stepped into Lydecker's office, confident beyond words. He was thankful that not only had the triumvirate given him such a huge responsibility, but that they had also left it to him to inform Deck of the change in the ranks.  
  
"You wanted to see me?" Mathews walked into the office without being beckoned and took a seat without being first offered.  
  
Lydecker eyed him suspiciously but chose to ignore this obvious lapse in protocol. There were other pressing matters he had to discuss. "Yes. I wanna know what you were thinking when you deployed X-6r to a kind of mission that X-6m or X-6q could have easily accomplished."  
  
"You always underestimated the X-5. Why send someone weaker who might finish the job when you can send someone who will finish the job?"  
  
"I want you to bring her home, she would be better used for other matters."  
  
"And I want to keep her out there. She has already established relationships with two of the X-5 who will, in the end, most likely lead her to the others." His confidence was obviously unnerving the still weak colonel.  
  
"I don't think you understand Mathews, that was an order, not a request. I want you to bring my operative home with the X-5 she currently has."  
  
Finally Mathews could not take it anymore and he laughed. "They are your operatives no longer Deck."  
  
"What are you—" Lydecker's eyes widened with confusion.  
  
Mathew stood now. "The powers that be have decided your concern for the X-5 is interfering with your ability to lead this organization. This morning I was informed by the Triumvirate that I now have full control of the X-6 and Project Nemesis as well as retroactive command. If you don't know what that means, let me clarify: you will now answer to me. The X-5 and anything before are mine to control if I deem it necessary. Check the database if you must, but it wouldn't be proper to doubt your commanding officer. I would love to stay and watch that pathetic look on your face but right now, I tire of you and I have more important matters to attend to."  
  
Mathews smiled again. He had dreamt of the speech many times before, but to actually say the words was a power trip he wished he could live over and over again. No longer needing to be dismissed, he stood up and left.  
  
Lydecker sat, back rigid in his chair, staring at the space before him that Mathews had just vacated. He had thought it was just a glitch in the system when he could not access files he once had free reign over. Finally, he turned to the computer and accessed a few files here and there. In almost every instance, his name as commanding officer was replaced by that of General Mathews. God, it was true…  
  
*****  
  
Once inside the penthouse, Zack and Raven remained in stealth mode. There was no need to awaken Logan or anyone else who might be here earlier than necessary.  
  
Raven sat down and waited for the computer to boot up. Zack had placed himself behind her, arms crossed, watching over her shoulder.  
  
"Remember to scramble your ip."  
  
Raven looked back at him. "I was trained thoroughly in cyber-espionage."  
  
"Just making sure…" Zack backed down and let his daughter continue.  
  
"Now what is it that I'm looking for?"  
  
"Anything recent connected to the barcode number 330981273112."  
  
"I can only stay logged on for a minute before the security programs find me." Her fingers were unnaturally fast, but there was nothing natural about anything that came out of Manticore. Minutes later she had broken into Manticore files and began a search for the number Zack had just given her.  
  
They waited only a few heartbeats, which seemed like hours, before search hits were returned. Operation files were pulled up onto the screen.  
  
"What the…" Raven said, studying the reports that appeared.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Lydecker should be in control of these operations…" She did not have to explain futher as Zack's eyes came to rest on the box that held the commanding officer's name. All of them read, General Mathews.  
  
"He's a general now…" She rapidly clicked through the different reports, time was of the essence here.  
  
"Wait, wait, go back."  
  
The clicked back and it was a file on X-6e.  
  
"Again."  
  
The one before that was a daily log of the X-series progress.  
  
"Again."  
  
Finally they pulled up the file that caught Zack's attention in the first place. The heading was foreign to both of them.  
  
Project Nemesis. Further down the page, after all the stats, it read:  
  
Natural offspring of 330417291599 and 330981273112.  
  
"What are they doing to him?"  
  
The question went unanswered as they scrolled down. There was an attachment of pictures and when Raven clicked on the link stills of a young man were shown. He wore army fatigues and stood arrow straight, in line with some unknown preteens approximately Raven's age. His face showed no emotion and his hair was tiger striped.  
  
"Those are my…I mean the X6."  
  
Zack was too shocked to pay her slip of the tongue any attention.  
  
"No…" he whispered as they scrolled picture after picture of Cole during mock-operations and other various training exercises.   
  
Then another link caught Raven's eye. "What's this?" she said as she clicked on a link titled: Operation Lockdown. Pictures popped up immediately after she clicked and there was no time to prepare for what the screen displayed.  
  
"It can't be…"   
  
Kat's limp body lay on damp earth, her face was smeared with blood and dirt and her neck was in an unnatural position. It was obvious by the way her eyes stared blankly at nothing, that she was dead. "I'll kill whoever—"  
  
Raven interrupted his vengeful speech, "I don't think you will."  
  
"What?" The mourning for Kat was shortlived.  
  
She did not say a word but instead pointed to a paragraph written in the report:  
  
The subject, known to the X-6 as Donovan, formerly named Cole, has proven his skill in this exercise, which ensured his loyalties to Manticore. Tracking capabilities are at a premium. However his efficiency in the effort was less than foreseen. It has been concluded that this was only due to the circumstances in which he hunted his prey. The premise was that an escapee had injured X-6e, the prototype Donovan had bonded to most. It is assumed that he delayed the kill to enjoy avenging his new family and that future assignments not so entrenched in personal matters will be completed swiftly and professionally. In any case our molding of the child's mind proved to be a complete success. Even when confronted with the escapee who was, in fact, his mother, he still completed his objective and took her life. Prototype X-5k was a necessary sacrifice to secure the allegiance of who could be Manticore's greatest soldier.  
  
Before he could read on Raven tapped a few keys and the window that held all the documents disappeared from the screen.  
  
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "They were beginning to track our signal, I had to get out."  
  
However her words were lost on Zack, he stood staring at the now empty screen with a look of horror on his face. Their son had killed Kat. Zack remembered in the alley when they finally found Cole after weeks of searching. The child did not trust him or Max, but the sound of Kat's voice proved all that was necessary to calm him. When she arrived Cole ran into her arms. And now he had murdered his own mother. This went beyond anything Zack could have imagined that Manticore would do to his son.  
  
And Kat was dead. He always thought that death would be better than going back to Manticore. However right now he wished more than anything that she were alive, even if it meant her reprogramming. At least with her alive, there was a chance to rescue her. Now, her remains were most likely violated, stripped of anything they might want, her organs harvested like the latest fall crop. The rest of her corpse was probably dumped into a shallow grave at the fringes of the compound if not submerged in a strange preserving fluid in some oversized test tube.  
  
His mind kept flashing between the images of Cole among and working with who must have been the X-6, and the images of Kat's lifeless body. Zack was thankful Raven had to pull out just then, because he did not want to have to read more of the atrocities that took place at that little island of hell on earth.  



	31. Mission Objective

"Are you alright?" Raven asked quietly as Zack stalked out of the office and into the living room? Quickly, she turned off the computer and left everything exactly as it was before she touched it and followed him to the couch. For only a brief moment she thought she saw his shoulders shake, but when she approached his body was rigid as concrete. He stood, arms crossed across his chest, with his back to her, facing the view of Seattle's skyline.  
  
"At least Cole is alive Zack," she said to him, laying a hand on his shoulder. She tried to suffuse her voice and actions with sympathy and hope, but truthfully she did not know how. There was no need for emotion back at Manticore, and even with all the things she was learning, here in the real world, free of the rigors of being a soldier, she did not know how to handle this situation.  
  
Again, he did not respond to her efforts and, as tentatively as she put her hand on him, she withdrew it. There was nothing else she could think to do to help him with his mourning. Instead she sat down on the couch and silence filled the room.  
  
*****  
  
Logan ran his hands through Max's wet hair and pulled her lips to his for what must have been the millionth time in so many hours. His shower used to seem so small, but with her here with him, he did not mind the cramped quarters. Soap in hand, Max was diligently washing his body. But he slowed her progress with every kiss. She rubbed his chest with lazy circular motions as he kissed her once again.  
  
Finally he pulled the soap from her hand, and dropped it to the floor of the shower. He placed his other hand on the small of her back and held her body tight against his own. There were no words that could have possibly described how good it felt to with the whole length of her body so close to his own. The sensation of the soft skin of her thighs pressed to the newfound sensitivity of his legs, her voluptuous lips against his own, her deceptively delicate hands on his back holding him just as tight… The words ecstasy, rapture, and bliss fell so pathetically short.  
  
In his fiery kiss she could feel the hunger he had for her flesh, and Max knew her own need for his body was just as intense. Both could not bring themselves to care as the water ran cold, for in each tender caress and loving kiss the only thing to exist was the heat and fire of passion.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan stood rifling through the mission objective the General had handed to him.  
  
"Your first assignment is a simple assassination in Seattle. All the information you need is in the folder. And this," Mathews handed him an unmarked large brown envelope, "is the target." He waited until Donovan pulled out the large color photos and examined them. "The name is no concern of yours. All that you need to know is that the target is to be exterminated. You should be able to complete the objective before dark. A helicopter will be waiting for you in precisely one hour on landing pad G. All the necessary equipment will be given then. You should be in Seattle by 17 hundred hours. Is that understood?"  
  
"Yes sir," Donovan said and tucked the pictures back into the envelope.  
  
"Then you are dismissed."  
  
Donovan nodded and left the room. Just outside the door Ty was waiting patiently. They made brief eye contact and nodded their acknowledgements and as Donovan continued down the hall Ty stepped into the office.  
  
"Ty, you believe you have a lead on Sameera and his men?"  
  
"Yes sir," Ty did not want to lie to General Mathews but he did not want to inform him of Raven's possible insurrection either. He would not undermine his C.O.'s authority based on a few hover drone clips and a lie. There had to be a perfectly good reason she did not tell him her true location, and he intended to speak to her first. "I believe they will be in Seattle."  
  
"Your findings are based on…?"  
  
"It is all explained in this report sir," Ty lifted a handful of neatly binded sheets for the General. Scenes like this were happening all over the world, but the reports concerned more trivial things like 1984 by George Orwell or the Cold War.  
  
Mathews leafed through the report, but he need not look long. He trusted Ty's abilities. "Donovan is being sent to Seattle today as well. Meet him at landing pad G at 13 hundred hours. Is that enough time to prepare?"  
  
"Plenty."  
  
"Then you will be taken to Seattle with him. Dismissed." Mathews watched Ty leave the room. It was so simple leading a group of highly capable teenagers. 'How could Deck have ever failed in such a simple task?' he mused.  
  
*****  
  
An hour later Max and Logan, wearing robes, burst out of the bedroom laughing. They stopped short when they saw Raven and Zack in the apartment, but they could not stifle all their happiness, despite the somber mood of the room.  
  
Without changing the expression on his face, Zack turned his head to look at them, and then looked back out onto the city. It was the first time Raven had seen him move since he stood himself there, two hours ago.  
  
Max said something to Logan who nodded, and left for the kitchen only after a quick peck on the lips.  
  
Raven stood and left for the kitchen as well, understanding Max wanted to talk to Zack. Maybe Max could help Zack…that is, if he decided to tell her what they had discovered about Cole and Kat.  
  
With both of them gone, Max hugged her robe closer to her body and approached Zack. "What's wrong?"  
  
After a slight hesitation Zack answered, "Nothing." He had chosen not to tell Max, he had brought enough pain to her life. She had been miserable for so long and she had finally found her smile again with Logan. Now was not the time to tell her that Kat was dead, and by Cole's hand. There was nothing they could do about it anyways short of breaking into Manticore. But if they were forced to fight Cole…they did not stand a chance.  
  
"Zack, you never had many emotions, 'cause you aren't that skilled at hiding them." Max knew this conversation would infuriate her, but she tried to stay calm. Zack was never the one to open up, and she expected no less from him now.  
  
"It's nothing I can do anything about…"  
  
"Zack, you were the one who told me to go to him. You can't make me feel guilty—"  
  
Zack looked at the floor and shook his head. A sad, soft laugh left his lips. "Don't flatter yourself," he said, still not turning his head to face her.  
  
"Wha—"  
  
"What makes you think this has anything to do with you? Despite what you may have heard, you aren't the center of my world."  
  
"I…" Max had just assumed, and she blushed with embarrassment.  
  
The awkwardness between them was so palpable it coated the back of their throats.  
  
"I need to go for a ride." Zack turned away from her and left the apartment, grabbing his jacket and helmet on the way.  
  
*****  
  
Dressed in casual clothing for their missions, Donovan and Ty pedaled their unassuming bikes to the gates of the Seattle Manticore base after being dropped off by the helicopter at 16 hundred hours. They looked like kids just out of school with the knapsacks on their backs. No one could tell at first glance that the bags held such deadly weapons meant for deadly purposes.  
  
"Enjoy your first mission little brother." Ty said as they both waited for the gates to open. It was the first time Ty had ever referred to Donovan with a more familial title, and it swelled his chest with a sense of pride.  
  
The gate finally opened and they both went their separate ways.  
  
*****  
  
Raven and Max perused the marketplace. Sellers stood at their booths trying to sell off the latest catch or the freshest harvest. The experience was new to Raven, as she had never had the need to actually enter a market before. Her slightly more sensitive nose was assaulted with smells from all sides and she had to resort to breathing through her mouth. Overall it did not help as she could almost taste the air it was so thick with scent.  
  
As they walked through the busy market, one could not help but bump into a large heckling woman, man burdened with parcels, or small mischievous child, picking pockets no doubt.  
  
Raven stood by Max's side as she picked up a head of lettuce and began the haggling process. Before Raven would have thought such an interaction a waste of time, but now she was amazed how Max was able to negotiate eight dollars off the original price. Flashing an innocent smile to the vendor probably helped with that, but it was still a skill.  
  
"We gotta check that out over there." Max pointed to what must have been a booth, though no actual booth was in sight. All one could see was a huge crowd of people, the small street urchins robbing them blind right under their noses. Many backed away as the bidding was too rich for their blood. "This guys says they got some chicken and steak."  
  
When they reached the crowd Raven stood back as Max batted her eyes and strong-armed her way to the vendor. A skill Raven assumed was only mastered after years of practice. As she watched the crazy bidding for the meat Raven felt a strange chill up her spine.  
  
It felt like, even among all these bustling crowds, that she was alone. No, more like singled out. She could almost feel someone's eyes wrap around her and the sensation was unsettling. The world around her became silent as she focused all her senses to finding who was watching her. Most rushed past her, busily studying the ground, avoiding things they might trip over, young pickpockets, rich from the latest haul skipped by happily, the elderly talked and walked by lazily, reminiscing on how the world used to be.  
  
Finally her eyes settled on a face so rigid and cold she could barely hide her surprise. Ty stood alone in an alley, standing arms crossed and staring straight at her. How could he have known she was here? Her answer came as a few hoverdrones zipped by. She knew a confrontation like this would have to come sooner or later and she turned her own façade to that of stone. If she was to convince him she were still on a mission she would have to act it.  
  
He did not signal anything to her. He didn't need to, for she found her feet moving to him despite herself. With Max busy trying to get them dinner she would be too preoccupied to notice. When she reached him, he did not bother with informal greetings.  
  
"Why did you lie?"  
  
"They were watching over my shoulder when you messaged. I had to lie to satisfy them."  
  
"Why did you not correct yourself later when you were alone?"  
  
"I am rarely alone, brother. They still have a lingering distrust for me. I have yet to fully gain a position with them. When that is accomplished I will have all of them to return to Manticore. In fact giving you that fake message helped me gain some of their trust."  
  
"Make me believe you."  
  
"What more do you need than my word." She battles his own icy eyes with her fiercest glare. Had she lost her dominance so quickly? But Ty was right to question her. That pride she felt before when one of her siblings excelled in something returned to her. It was odd.  
  
Ty softened, becoming, once more, the brother she knew when there were no other superiors there to bear witness. "I didn't want to doubt you, Raven, but we are all concerned. Working so closely to those rogues," he poured such disgust in the word Raven almost winced. Almost. "We were afraid they may have filled your head with unfounded anti-Manticore propaganda."  
  
"They have tried and they have failed." Outside she remained calm, but Raven's mind was reeling. What had she been doing all these past weeks. Why exactly was she changing? She never left Manticore with the intention of leaving it forever. She had been satisfied with life. She had her family, her missions, her training… What exactly did freedom offer her?  
  
"The others will be happy to hear."  
  
"Trust is a delicate thing to build. It may still take me a while, but my objective will be completed."  
  
"I'm not sure you will be given that time."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"There are rumors that the advance to Stage three is being stepped up. The Triumvirate even promoted Mathews to General and put him in charge. If the rumors pan out they will be wanting X5 subjects to test on soon, and seeing as we are short…"  
  
"I…I understand." She could not help but hesitate. Raven knew of stage three, she had seen some of the gruesome failures which far outnumbered the successes of the X4. Despite the advantages of shared thoughts, Raven also knew what kind of control that would give Manticore. To be able to shock a soldier from within as punishment was something one couldn't run from. To be able to shut down a soldier unconscious with a simple press of a button…  
  
"It was good to see you Ty, tell the others I am well. But I must be getting back, if they were to see me with you, the last weeks would have all been a waste of my time."  
  
*****  
  
After a brief hug, Raven turned back to the marketplace. As he watched her walk away, Ty felt an anger rise in his throat. He heard it in her voice, saw it in her eyes. 'They have turned you sister, but we will bring you back home.'  
  
*****  
  
It was hard for Donovan to try and ride at a normal human pace, so used to using his inborn speed in strength he felt unnatural and clumsy. But he made it to the appropriate building nonetheless. He flashed his fake messenger identification to the doorman who let him in with no hassle.  
  
'So simple it's pathetic.' Donovan thought to himself as he tucked the id back into his pocket. He easily made his way to roof of the building and kneeled on the east end. Within seconds he assembled his sniper rifle. And chose his most comfortable position. Though he could have easily just used his naturally enhanced long distance vision, he liked to look through the scope instead.  
  
The apartments across the way were lush compared to the dismal state of the city around them. The building seemed barely touched by the economic woes of the time. He aimed the cross hairs into the penthouse suit of the building. The wood was a deep red and the furniture actually matched. In fact the whole apartment had a new aged crisp and clean sort of appearance. Behind a screen that passed for a wall he could see the silhouette of a person who looked to be sitting in front of a computer.  
  
Pressing his cheek to the gun, Donovan trained his sight on the head of the person. He wondered playfully how the glass and the translucent obstruction would deflect the shot, if at all. It was never something he would actually try as a clear shot was always best. Maybe under desperate circumstances, but with this assignment he had all the time in the world.  
  
The shadow moved to stretch, then stood, making its way out of the office. With a steady hand Donovan kept the crosshairs on the head. The subject paused to examine something on what was probably another table or desk. He wanted to laugh. He found it almost hilarious that someone could be so unaware of their own impending death. Or maybe it was the giddy feeling of knowing they would die at his hand, that he controlled their lives.  
  
With the man out of the office Donovan saw his face for the first time. He wore simple glasses, his hair was spiked and messy and by the look of the scruff on his chin, he was the sort of man who would get so wrapped up in his work he would forget to shave for a day or two. Donovan squinted as he recognized the face. With a lover's touch beyond his years, he caressed the trigger.  
  



	32. Unnatural

Raven once again returned to watch the frenzy at the meat dealer's tent. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose, not caring that the air was so thick with scent.  
  
There was no way that Ty would have believed that little acting job she put on. Ever since she could remember he knew her better than she knew herself. She had never been able to hide anything from him.  
  
She slowly let out her breath through her mouth. Ty would never let her turn her back on Manticore.  
  
*****  
  
Even the streets offered him no solace. Zack could not get his mind off what he had seen only a few hours ago. Kat's body limp, laying in such an unnatural position and his son, looking so natural in army fatigues and a gun in hand.  
  
Kat had done nothing to deserve death, unless one could count her devotion as a mother. Kat had showed she would even live in hell for her son when she made the choice to return to Manticore. What happened next? Manticore, in all its perverted irony, sent the son she had given her soul to protect, to seek and destroy her.  
  
And now Cole was living the life Zack had run away from. And he had grown. He was no longer the small child who looked at him with those wide eyes out the window of the helicopter. The pictures had proved it, the innocence was lost in Cole's eyes and there was no way to regain that. Zack knew first hand that the hate learned then would forever taint Cole's view of the world.  
  
Finally he had to stop, waiting for the traffic to clear so he could make a left. He cursed when one way became clear and then the other would fill with cars. As he waited oh so impatiently it was like a shock of lightning. The unmistakable scream of pure fright ripped through the air and wrenched him from his dark thoughts. He looked about him to see if any of the other patrons that filled the streets at this hour had heard, but none seemed to notice.  
  
Again the scream rang in his ears. Now, with attentions peaked, his acute hearing pinpointed the location of the victim. Zack wasted no time as he wrenched his handles to the right and sped toward the victim. Deep in his mind, where even he had limited access, he wished he would meet more than just one thug on his arrival.  
  
*****  
  
"Raven?" Max asked as they headed back to the penthouse.  
  
"Hmm?" Raven's response was muffled since her mouth was full of what Max had called an orange.  
  
"You were with Zack last night, right?"  
  
"For the most part…" she struggled to get the words around with food in her mouth.  
  
"He was fine then right?"  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
"So what was his dealio this morning?"  
  
'Why didn't you just tell her Zack?'   
  
But Raven knew it was not her place to intervene with Zack's decision. "I don't know. Maybe the whole rapid aging experience finally hit him. There's always that delay after a traumatizing experience."  
  
"Maybe…"  
  
Raven could tell from her voice that Max was far from convinced.  
  
After a moment of silence Max spoke again. "Are you alright? You seem a little tense. The market didn't shake you up that badly did it?"  
  
It seemed Raven was having a hard time convincing anyone this day. The meeting with her brother must have shaken her up more than she realized.  
  
*****  
  
His finger itched to pull the trigger.  
  
'Patience, patience' he chided himself as he waited for the man in the penthouse to come to a complete standstill, so he would have that perfect shot. There was no rush, the man didn't seem to be going anywhere.  
  
Finally the man sat down on the couch in the living room and took his glasses off, wiping them with the hem of his sweater. Resting his glasses once again on the bridge of his nose, he picked up the newspaper and settled for a read.  
  
'A perfect shot to the temple. Beautiful.' Donovan thought as he trained his crosshairs on the man. Beneath his cheek the gun warmed to match his body temperature. It was a comforting feeling, as though the sniper rifle was truly becoming an extension of his body. With hands as steady as a master surgeon's, Donovan held his sights on the weakest point of the man's unsuspecting skull.  
  
His trigger finger tensed.  
  
"Bang." He whispered with disappointment heavy in his voice.  
  
He lifted his head to look down at his watch. There would be another estimated hour before his target would return home. If only this man was his real target, then he could have gotten this pathetic assignment over with and could return home, ready for a greater challenge.  
  
*****  
  
Logan felt the hairs on his arms raise of their own accord. The apartment was warm, but a shiver ran its icy fingers along his skin. He had only had this sort of uncanny sense of impending doom once before, and that was right before Bruno and his buddies opened fire that day he lost his ability to walk.  
  
Without knowing why, he turned his head to look out the window.  
  
*****  
  
A strange sensation tugged at Donovan and he used his eagle eye vision to look once again at the man. He had turned his head to look out the window and Donovan saw his face full on.  
  
It was just like the woman he had killed in the forest. Fuzzy images tried raise to the top of his thoughts. Not only did the man look familiar, but he recognized the apartment as well. The red stained wood, the artwork hanging from the walls. 'But that's impossible,' he shook his head as though that would rid his mind of the familiar yet alien images, 'I have never lived anywhere but Manticore. I have never been outside its walls before.'  
  
Donovan squeezed his eyelids closed, and clenched his jaw as a sharp pain pierced his brain. It was a natural animal reaction to clamp his free hand down on his temple, even though it did nothing to relieve the pain.  
  
For a few split seconds which seemed like an eternity, the diluted images flashed brilliantly and with such clarity he wished he could shut his eyes tighter though that too would be a futile effort.  
  
There was a view from what could have only been the inner workings of the penthouse. From his perch atop the neighboring building there was no way he could have even caught a glimpse of those parts of the apartment.  
  
There was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, and he was lifting him up in the air. He had never seen this man before.  
  
There was a lady with curly brown hair that smiled down at him, as she held him in her arms in another dark apartment he once again could not remember.  
  
And then there was the woman he had killed in the forest.  
  
Her face was more haunting than any of the others. This time the woman's face wasn't covered in dirt and blood she smiled warmly at him.  
  
As quickly as it had come the throbbing hurt vanished and the images disappeared to where ever in his mind they were first dredged up. He blinked and shook his head. That was now way for a soldier to concentrate on his objective. Letting his mind run away with bizarre pictures conjured from who knows what. He cleared his thoughts, pushing everything down and glanced at his watch again. There was still plenty of time before the target would return home.  
  
*****  
  
It was evening and the sun was still up, but the alley was more shrouded in shadow then the events that transpired now.  
  
"Please! No!" the woman said, trying to hold her torn clothes together around her body. She could have sworn this alley wasn't a dead end, and she groped at the brick wall that blocked her path as though a hidden passage might reveal itself.  
  
"Come on sweety, you were so hot last night when you were stripping on the bar," said one of the five men who had corralled her into this alley.  
  
"Strip tease for me baby," another laughed.  
  
"Stay the fuck away from me!" She turned around now, full of defiance, but she could not hide the fear in her eyes and the quiver in her voice. The lady wiped her red hair back from her face, it was sticking to the blood that dripped from a cut on her cheek.  
  
They laughed a sick perverted laugh and stepped toward her again, she saw the hunger in their eyes and it shook her to her core. Her knees went weak, and though she wished with all her heart that they would obey her one last time and run, they instead became jello and she fell to the ground, paralyzed by terror.  
  
With her eyes closed tight she could only hear the sound of the approaching vehicle. A motorcycle maybe? Another of their friends to join in on the fun? Why did she have flirt with all of them the other night?  
  
The sound of the men's footsteps paused, and she dared open her eye to see what other horror would threaten her this night.  
  
*****  
  
Zack's smile was hidden behind his helmet when he arrived in the alley. He took of his helmet and tucked it under his arm. Quickly he surveyed his battlefield. Five guys, one damsel in distress, cramped alleyway no wider than two arms lengths across. 'This should be fun'  
  
He dropped his voice to a serious tone. "Back off kiddies, looks like the lady doesn't want to play."  
  
"Who are you calling kiddies?" one of the blonde thugs piped up.  
  
Another held his hand to stop his friends progress toward the intruder, "I suggest you move along little boy, your parents might get worried." With his comment he flashed a knife in Zack's face.  
  
"That's it? My parents wouldn't be too worried about that." He rolled his eyes. 'Come on,' he begged the powers that be, 'Let them be packing something heavier than that.'  
  
"This isn't your problem you little punk."  
  
Zack ignored the comment and leaned to the side so he could make eyes contact with the woman. "Are you okay Miss?"  
  
She did nothing but stare back at him.  
  
Yet another man stepped to break their eye contact. "Well then run along and go find her some help. I'm sure you could find a cop if you looked hard enough in the next sector over."  
  
"Yeah, but if I left, you would just keep doing to her whatever it was you were doing to her in the first place."  
  
"Well give the boy a prize."  
  
"There are five of us, kid. Just run along and forget what you saw here."  
  
"Sorry. Can't do that." Zack shrugged his shoulders and tenderly set his helmet down on his motorcycle.  
  
"You're pissing me off." The biggest of the bunch approached Zack and this time no one held up a hand to stop him. 'Finally!' He stood his ground and waited for the man to come to him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the rest of the gang standing and smiling, relaxing and preparing themselves for what they assumed would be a good show. If that's what they wanted…  
  
The large man threw a few punches that, by Manticore standards, were slow and clumsy. Zack easily ducked the first few, not needing to even lift his feet from the ground. The confusion in the man's eyes became apparent as he watched Zack use his unnatural speed to easily avoid the attacks. After a moment's hesitation the man became doubly determined and sent another right fist at Zack's face. It was a pitiful attempt to which Zack responded by ducking to his left and thrusting the heel of his right hand straight into the large man's solar plexus. His opponent stumbled backwards, shock knitting his brows together as he gripped at his shirt struggling to breathe.  
  
Zack approached slowly, making sure the man saw him coming. When Zack stood over him, he only waited a moment's pause before he dropped to one hand simultaneously using one foot behind the man to kick at the back of his knees, the other to kick the man in the gut from the front. The effect of the move drove the man to the ground so hard he knocked his head on the cement and blacked out.  
  
The others were stunned by the display, but for only a second, as their confidence returned, trusting that their five on one advantage would let them easily win this fight.  
  
Even at what must have been their top speed, in Zack's eyes their advance was at a snail's pace. The man who first revealed a weapon made good on his implied threat and was the first to leap at Zack, knife raised.  
  
With reflexes his muscles still remembered from his training Zack dodged to the side and the man's own momentum carried him past. Zack turned his back on the others to face this second challenger. If he didn't have fun with these guys the moment wouldn't last, so Zack humored the guy and let him take a few more swipes at his face. Soon, Zack tired of these attempts as well and swept his left foot up in the air, and easily knocked the blade out of the man's hand. Was this all the fight they would offer him this night?  
  
The man's confidence faltered as he lost his weapon, but Zack could see in his eyes that he wasn't about to give up. The reason for his confidence became obvious as Zack heard behind him someone pull out a gun and release the safety.  
  
He looked over his shoulder and smiled.  
  
"You … you think this is funny boy?" a black haired man asked, his stutter betraying that he was truly afraid. He was not blind and he saw the freakish thing the boy had just done to his buddies. Of course he would be afraid. Every criminal is a coward inside.  
  
Zack wasn't surprised when the thug did what every thug does when he is frightened, and shot at the source of his fear. The shot echoed strangely through the confines of the cramped alleyway.  
  
Though he moved with uncanny speed to avoid the shot, he could feel bullet pierce his thigh. Falling to one knee, Zack ground his teeth together grimacing in pain. He reached down and felt the warm wetness of blood drenching his pants.  
  
What Zack didn't anticipate was exactly how nervous he made this guy. The man's shaking was so severe that when Zack moved to avoid the shot, even as quickly as he did, he instead moved into the bullet's path.  
  
"Fucking punk. That clipped your wings didn't it you freak." a fourth man with a scar on his face spoke as he and another man moved in. The man that formerly held the knife found his confidence again and moved in as well. He needed to save face infront of his friends even if that meant beating on the kid while he was down.  
  
Shunting the pain away, Zack stood, leaning a bit at first to favor his left leg then stood tall. That was it, Zack could no longer hold back and let the hatred engulf him whole. Hate was something that burned in every corner of his mind since as long as he could remember and now, as it wrapped around him like a warm blanket, he felt more natural then he cared to admit.  
  
"Stubborn fuck. Why don't you stay the fuck down!" the scarred man yelled as he threw his whole body into a punch. Zack stood still until the last moment, sensing the other man's presence behind him as well. Just before the fist made contact with his face Zack dodged and grabbed the man's wrist utilizing the momentum and pulling the punch over his shoulder into the man approaching behind.  
  
With the man's arm over his shoulder Zack pulled down. He could hear the man squeal like a little girl as his arm snapped in two. Zack wasted no time tossing him aside and advanced to finish off the other brute. A few quick punches and a knee to the gut was all that was needed to put a third man out of commission.  
  
That left two others.  
  
The fourth must have been in some sort of martial arts as he was quicker then the others. It was refreshing for Zack to have an actual challenge for once and he slowed his own fighting down. Nothing was better then the way a man fought when he thought he had a chance of winning. The battle was a flurry of attacks and counterattacks, thrusts and blocks. Zack smiled briefly every time the man actually got in a good hit.  
  
The fifth man, still holding his gun watched as his friends dropped like flies. He would have fled, but the battle that ensued blocked the only escape route. His eyes filled with horror as he watched Zack seem to grow tired of the battle.  
  
When the opportunity presented itself, Zack stepped on the mans foot and, before the other man could react, drove his knee down, hyper extending the other's joint until it was a full ninety degrees the wrong way. His scream bounced off the brick of the alleyway, and he dropped to the ground.  
  
Slowly, deliberately, Zack turned toward the last man standing. The gun was still pointed directly at him. This time, Zack would not make the same mistake, and he leapt up in the air, jumping from wall to wall. The frightened man quickly emptied his clip and was still pulling the trigger of a useless gun when Zack landed in front of him.  
  
"Stupid." Zack said as he jumped up and kicked the man across the face, snapping his head to the side.  
  
Behind him he heard a rustling and when he turned his eyes widened. Before him stood Satan's lapdog.  
  
"Lydecker." Zack's voice was acid. Hatred pulsed through his veins and he could hear it thrum against his eardrums.  
  
*****  
  
The stars finally disappeared from the Jimmy's eyes and his breath came back to him. He watched as the runt made quick work of his friends. This kid wasn't human. How was it possible to move that fast? And jumping off the walls like that?  
  
He tried to get up to run away but when he stood he was hit with vertigo, and any movement threatened to topple him again. When he looked up again the boy's blood-shot stare was so intense it seemed to fill the whole alley, holding him in his place.  
  
"Lydecker," was all he said.  
  
Jimmy didn't know what it meant. Was it a name? He looked around him but there was no one else in the alley besides the girl. "L-l-look man I'm sorry…" he stammered.  
  
*****  
  
"Zack. You're a disappointment." Lydecker said to him.  
  
"I'm not here for your approval." Zack stepped toward the man who was his past personified, murder in his eyes. Something in Zack's mind snapped as he lost control of his predatory urges. The barriers between reality and imagination blurred as the blood lust took over.  
  
Before him Lydecker smirked then turned his shoulder and began to walk away.  
  
*****  
  
Jimmy backed away slowly, hands raised in submission. The way Zack spoke to him left him fully disturbed, "What are you…?"  
  
"Don't walk away from me."  
  
Jimmy could hear the animalistic growl beneath his voice. His body told him to fight or take flight, but the look in Zack's eyes really gave him no option. Turning on still unsteady legs Jimmy tried to run away.  
  
*****  
  
"You got nothing to say to me?" Zack picked up his step to a lightning run and pounced on Lydecker from behind, knocking him down. Turning Lydecker on his back, Zack straddled him, picking him up by his collar just to punch him back down. "How could you do that to her? How could you kill her using our son as the weapon?"  
  
*****  
  
"Please…Oh God." Jimmy spit through his blood. This guy was crazy. In Zack's blue eyes he saw death. A quick glance revealed that his friends were going to abandon him as they took the window and dragged their bodies away. Jimmy closed his eyes and began to mutter his final prayers.  
  
*****  
  
Lydecker laughed between each brutal beating. "You were always so angry."  
  
"He was just a kid." His fist made contact with Deck's face.  
  
"We were all just kids." Another punch.  
  
Deck laughed again. "You were never a child, Zack. You were soldiers."  
  
"Fuck you, you bastard!" Zack screamed at Lydecker's laughter, which grated on his ears. Closing his eyes Zack just let go, for a minute the rhythmic beating of his fist against the man's skull was all he knew. He even began to take comfort in the familiarity of the action, but it was a fleeting calm.  
  
When he opened his eyes again he saw who truly lay beneath him. It wasn't the demon that haunted his dreams. It was just a thug off the streets, his face bloody and beaten so badly that he didn't even look human anymore. Zack dropped the limp body and stood. The man must have been dead for a long time.  
  
Hesitantly Zack lifted his hands. They were covered in blood. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he realized exactly what he had done. If for only a moment he had become the killing machine Lydecker had always wanted. He gave into that craving for blood and death, pain and killing, the part that didn't care of worldly consequences…  
  
And he liked it.  
  
His stomach turned at the prospect. How would he run from Manticore if it would forever be a part of him? He had to gain his humanity back. Why was he here with these men in the first place anyways?  
  
A whimper in the corner of the alley served to reminded him. The girl, her clothes in shreds, sat hugging her knees crying. Blinking his eyes dry he tried to soften his appearance, though he didn't know if that was possible being covered in blood, the men's as well as his own.  
  
He looked in a pile of rubbish and found what must have been an old artist's drop cloth. He picked it up and snapped it in the air, shaking all the dirt he could off it if. Cautiously, he approached her holding out the sheet as an offering.  
  
She stared at him with more fright in her eyes then she had when she was pursued by the first assailants. The silence only served to amplify her terror. With one hand she held her rags close to her and with the other quickly grabbed at the gift. She did not take her eyes off him as she wrapped herself, and, hugging the walls to stay as far away as possible from him, she sneaked by.  
  
Once she felt she was in the clear, she made a mad dash for the opening of the alley. Every once in a while glancing over her shoulder to make sure he did not follow.  
  
Zack stood alone save for the corpse by his feet, feeling so unnatural in his own skin. 


	33. True Target

author's note: shit, sorry, i'm such an idiot! i forgot to post this chapter. maybe that's why it seemed a little choppy with donovan all of a sudden killing someone. sucks too, because it is supposed to be a totaly shocker, but now that you've read the next chapter you know who will be shot. damn, i'm such an imbecile :)  
  
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"Dr. Richardson has completed his development of the nanotechnology. He assures us that it will work. As he so eloquently put it, he would even bet his life on it." The Triumvirate always took that seriously.  
  
"I suggest we halt the operation in Seattle and instead, bring the X5 in now."  
  
"Why now?"  
  
"Including those two we will have enough enhanced X5's that we can send them out to bring the others home. As well, with Zack we will know where they are all located anyways. It is strategy."  
  
"Ah, yes that makes sense." The triumvirate conversed amongst themselves casually before they finally agreed.  
  
"Send Mathews the memo. We are ready to proceed."  
  
*****  
  
He checked his watch again. Time seemed to have crawled by but thankfully the target would be home soon.  
  
Donovan sat, waiting impatiently. He glanced over at the apartments across the way but even a quick glance at the penthouse, even if it was only in his peripheral vision, would threaten to bring on another splitting headache. How was he supposed to complete the objective with such a distraction? Why was something like that distracting him anyways? That couldn't be normal. Who were these people whose faces haunted his mind?  
  
He tried to recall the images that had flashed into his mind, but despite their brilliant clarity before he could only remember hazy images.  
  
'Focus,' he chided himself, and took a deep breath. Soon his objective would be complete and he would be heading home. Away from this city of ghosts.  
  
*****  
  
Raven sat behind Max on her ninja. They were well on their way to Fogle towers where a delicious meal would be ready in less then an hour no doubt.  
  
She only wished that the thoughts in her mind would whiz past as fast as the buildings were now. But thoughts of her brother refused to wash away.  
  
It was almost as if she felt guilty for leaving him and the others. For the first time since she left Manticore she realized that she had essentially abandoned her family. She left to find out exactly how these rogues worked and she stayed with them when she began to understand their reasons for leaving. But wasn't it possible that she was leaving her siblings behind to suffer the same fate. If she did not return with the X5 that Mathews would be needing soon, wouldn't it be possible that he would resort to using the X6 in his stage three experiments? It wasn't like the X6 weren't expendable at this point. The X7s were nipping at their heels, and the mothers that were heavy with the X8 when Raven left had probably already given birth. Either way it would be inevitable that Manticore would deem it appropriate to use the X6 in those horrid experiments.  
  
She shuddered at the thought. Her family could be in great danger and in more then one way it would be her fault. What kind of a C.O. was she if she would just abandon them like that?  
  
But then again how could she betray the X5 whom she has grown so close to over the past few weeks? Especially the two X5 who were her parents?  
  
There was no doubt in her mind that Ty would bring others to retrieve her and Zack and Max. But after all the two had done for her she could not let them be taken back to Manticore. Raven wished that she could just tell them to get out of Seattle, but deep down she knew she wouldn't be able to convince Max to leave Logan's side. And if that was the case she wouldn't want Zack to leave because then Max would have no chance of escaping the X6 on her own.  
  
She needed a plan that would be best for all and only one came to mind. Freeing one of her hands she reached down into her pocket and felt the cool touch of a small vile of liquid. It just might be their only hope.  
  
*****  
  
His gut had never lied to him before, and Logan wasn't willing to dismiss the strange feeling he had just moments ago. He walked quickly to his computer and tapped into the hover drone net. He had done it so many times that he was in and controlling the closest hover drone within a minute of logging on.  
  
After a few simple commands he guided the hover drone to the roof of the adjacent building and his eyes widened with shock when he saw who was there.  
  
The boy was older, looking to be about Raven's age. But there was no mistaking the tiger striped hair. It was Cole. Logan had only moments to recognize the boy, for Cole soon raised a sniper rifle and shot down the hover drone.  
  
Sniper rifle?  
  
Only one thought entered his mind. Logan wasted no time picking up the phone and paging Max. 'Please Max don't come home.' He thought as he hung up and waited for her to call.  
  
*****  
  
Max looked down at her beeper. "Alright Logan, we're almost there." She whispered, not bothering to stop and check in.  
  
*****  
  
"Hello Deck." Mathews walked into Lydecker's office and threw out the informal greeting. Though apparently he expected more in return. "Shouldn't you be standing and saluting me?"  
  
"Get over yourself Mathews." Lydecker refused to stand. He couldn't bear to be under the command of such an insolent fool.  
  
"You know I am trying my best to be polite to you here. I did after all come here to personally inform you that I was given the go ahead with Stage Three and I will be taking control of Brin and the others. I could have just sent a memo."  
  
"That shit hasn't been perfected yet, you'll turn them into fucking vegetables."  
  
"Come on now Lydecker, give the doctors some credit. They've made leaps and bounds with that technology. The X4 are only slightly flawed with random fits of rage. But we are assured that that has been taken care of."  
  
"You know what the triumvirate is doing to them right?"  
  
"Are you trying to enlighten me in some way Deck?" Mathews raised his eyebrows, obviously amused.  
  
"How will they become perfect soldiers if all they need is a virus in the central computer to render them useless? Or what if someone were to be able to hack into the controls they could give our soldiers a slow and painful death just by pushing a button. How will it make them perfect if it will be their downfall?"  
  
"The only way to disable them internally by using their nanoprobes, or introduce a virus would be to be physically at the terminal. So I don't see how it is possible…"  
  
Deck began to get frustrated. He did not want to see this children injected with nanoprobes, even it if did make them stronger and faster. Introducing something foreign like that into their bodies, meant that they could be controlled. Deck had put his life into creating and nuturing the X5. If he would not have control, then no one, especially not Mathews, would. "What about your X6? Would you like to see them become lifeless puppets?"  
  
Mathews shook his head and smiled, "As I told Ty, they are still imperfect. Stage three will enhance them to beyond their full capabilities, and the Triumvirate will have its super-army four generations ahead of schedule. They won't be puppets, Deck. They will become a streamlined multitasking killing machine. That has been our goal from the beginning."  
  
"I will not-"  
  
Mathews stood and cut Lydecker off, "You will, because you have no choice. We are moving into the future Lydecker. With or without you."  
  
He left the office without another word, leaving Deck once again to stare blankly at his desk. He had just been told this morning that he was no longer in command and now he was being told that the X5 are out of his hands. It was all happening so quickly.  
  
There was no way he would be able to save Brin and the other X5 who were on the base. But there was still a hope of saving Max and Zack and all the other rogues. Mathews would not get his hands on all the X5. At least some of his children would remain pure.  
  
*****  
  
Zack was on his bike now, racing towards Logan's apartment. He had found a semi clean cloth in the alley to tie up his leg and he could feel the bullet wound already begin to heal. The physical wound was easy to get over, but Zack's mind was in tatters. Too many things were happening in his life. Too many losses in too short a time that he had snapped.  
  
He still could not get over that sickening feeling of beating up on someone he could have sworn was Lydecker. He saw Lydecker, spoke to Lydecker, took his hatred out on Lydecker. But when his blood lust ended he found he had beaten a man to death. Over and over he would try and justify his actions. 'That guy was a criminal anyways, he deserved what he got.' But nothing he could think of would wipe the girls face from his memory. Her face was so pale with fright that he might as well have been holding a gun to her forehead and ripped apart her clothes himself.  
  
It was her face that brought him to a full realization that what he did was truly savage. He wasn't human, but a heartless killer, no better then the trash off the streets, just more efficient at it. All his life spent freely roaming the streets he had been trying to run from whatever it was Manticore wanted him to be. It just took an incident like today to make him understand that he couldn't run anymore. The hate, the anger, it would always be with him.  
  
Finally he turned into the alley beside Fogle towers and parked his bike. He got off and tucked his helmet under his arm. What he needed right now was a good shower. He knew washing away the blood would not be enough to clean his mind, but it was a start.  
  
Stepping through the doors and into the lobby, he saw a face that actually made him lips form a slight smile. Something he hadn't done for a long, long time.  
  
"Zack? What happened?" Alyssa, who had been waiting for the elevator, now walked up to him. Upon seeing her Zack forgot what he must have looked like in her eyes. His clothing was stained with dried blood, his one leg was completely drenched, even the cloth tied tightly around his thigh was by now a deep crimson red. Any normal human would have passed out from the blood loss.  
  
Her question made Zack remember once again, exactly what he had done and the smile slipped from his face. "I'll be fine."  
  
With Alyssa's experience with the X5 she knew he a gun shot to his leg would easily heal. "I know you will, but what happened?" she said, her voice soft and reassuring. Zack knew she would understand, she was like his mother, and he knew he could tell her anything. The elevator she had called was now opening and they both stepped in. Zack did not bother selecting a floor, going straight to the wall and leaning against it, resting his head back and closing his eyes. Dr. Munrow followed, and selected her floor, prompting to doors to close.  
  
"I killed a man today Alyssa."  
  
She was expecting no less with the amount of blood she saw. "I'm sure there was a good reason."  
  
"No, you don't understand. It went beyond everything I was taught at Manticore. I could feel his skull give way to my fist but I still didn't stop. I murdered the man, for no good reason." It was a sorrowful topic but it felt so good to talk to someone about these things.  
  
"I know you Zack, you wouldn't just kill a man. Something must have pushed you and given you no option."  
  
"I thought I saw Lydecker… I killed because I thought he was Lydecker…I'm going crazy I could have sworn I saw him."  
  
Alyssa listened calmly as Zack told his tale from the beginning. How he learned about what Manticore was doing to his son, what they made his son do to Kat. Alyssa was shocked to hear the story of Operation Lockdown, but she held her tongue. It was obvious that Zack had been holding this all inside and it was just as obvious that he needed to get it all out.  
  
Zack was happy to tell her everything, how he thought the man was Lydecker, but he didn't want to tell her how far he went. He didn't want her to know how much he enjoyed it.  
  
His tale ended as they approached her floor. "…She was more scared of me then she was the other men. And that's what scares me Alyssa…How do you handle your life knowing what you did back at Manticore? Doesn't it eat away at you?"  
  
Alyssa pushed the emergency stop just before her floor. He needed more time to get this all off his shoulders. "It still gives me nightmares. But I know that my past doesn't determine my future. We all can change. If you can accept these killing urges as a part of who you are you can control them."  
  
"But I don't want to accept that that is who I am."  
  
"By burying it like you have all these years you are just allowing it build beyond your control. Like tonight. Zack, your mind is stressed, especially after everything you have lost," she placed a mother hand on his cheek, "Kat, Cole, Max…"  
  
Zack turned his head away from her hand.  
  
"I know how you felt about her Zack," she smiled, "I was the one who treated you after those post mission beatings remember. I know that time and again you put yourself on the line to help her. I know what her relationship with Logan must be doing-"  
  
He turned rigid and cold, "I have accepted my sacrifices Doctor. That I can get past. But what Manticore made my son do… That is unforgivable." Telling her everything had been refreshing, lifting a huge weight off his mind, but he didn't want to talk about this.   
  
Alyssa did not speak, she knew she might have stepped beyond what was welcome.  
  
Zack snapped out of it, and relaxed his tensed muscles. He knew Alyssa was only trying to help him, she always did. "Do you have the medicine?"  
  
"Yeah, I finished it last night, but when you didn't come back…" she reached into her purse and pulled out several little vials of a bluish liquid. "And I got these as well…" Next she took out several needles and handed them to him.  
  
All of which Zack put into his upturned helmet.  
  
"I don't know if there is any way to thank you."  
  
She smiled, "There is no need after what I've done… but if you really must, how about helping me cook some dinner tonight? My sister is set on making me a vegetarian."  
  
Her smile was infectious and one made its way to Zack's lips again. He was also happy to stay somewhere else tonight, if only for the evening. What she said earlier was true, and he didn't want to have to see Logan and Max together. "Sure, I just… need to clean up."  
  
Alyssa released the emergency stop and the door opened on her floor. "I'm sure I got some sweats you could wear."  
  
Zack loved how he felt around her. She was so accepting and understanding. He had just killed a man, the blood was testimony to that, but unlike the girl in the alley Alyssa's eyes were not filled with detest and fear. Being from Manticore she understood the atrocities that took place there, and how that could wear down on a person. Anyone else, save fellow X5's, would have feared this aspect of him, yet Alyssa was inviting him to dinner. A sigh of relief left his lips. Alyssa was the last human he would want to bring fear to.  
  
They entered her apartment and Zack looked around. Just like Logan's apartment it seemed relatively untouched by the pulse. "Nice place," he said, putting down his helmet, careful to balance it so that none of the contents would spill.  
  
"Thanks, but it's my sister's. After a couple more years pushing my work I should be able to afford a place like this." She hung her coat on a coat stand and set her purse down.  
  
"How did you sister get a place like this? I thought you were the genius."  
  
"Ah, yes, but she was the gold digger… long story," she waved it off, walking into the living room. A few steps in she turned to face him. "So the washroom is over there. I'll just-"  
  
The window behind her shattered with a deafening crash. Zack was caught too unaware to react instantly. The bullet was too fast and the aim too true. Even with his speed he only made it to Alyssa quickly enough to catch her falling, lifeless body.  
  
"Alyssa!" He hugged her to his chest, her blood mingling with that which had already stained his clothes. A lover, a son, a friend and now a mother. What more could he lose?  
  
Finally, with Alyssa still in his arms, he lifted his head and looked out the shattered window. His whole body shook with grief and hatred. Dilating his pupils he focused his eyes the far distance to the top of the building where the shot must have originated.  
  
As much as his mind didn't want to believe, Zack could not deny that it was his son who stood there, sniper rifle still in hand, staring back at him.  



	34. At a Loss for Words

author's note: i am such a moron. if you were wondering why there was a strange jump between the last two chapters you read, it was because i forgot to post a chapter in between. so go back and read chapter 33, it is actually the new chapter. sorry, it would have been a lot more suspenceful if i had posted it in the right order... :)  
  
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Donovan lowered his gun and watched his bullet shatter the glass of the apartment and hit his target dead on. There was no pain, his aim was true. He watched, a small smile forming on his face, as the lifeless body of his target crumpled and fell.  
  
But it did not hit the ground. There was a blur and then a blonde haired man caught her in his arms. The man was covered in blood and cradled the fallen woman like a loved one, holding her to him tightly. He had screamed out a name, but names were of no concern to Donovan. The objective was complete and that was all that mattered. Yet Donovan found himself staring at the curious man across the way. He wanted to know how it was possible to run so quickly as to become a blur.  
  
Then the man lifted his head. It was him! The man from his visions. For a moment Donovan stood still in fear. Not of the man but of the pain that would return once more. When, to his delight, it did not, he was still held in place by the man's silver-blue stare. It was as though the man could see him, even across this great distance, and that somehow the man knew who he was. But for a normal human that was not possible.  
  
After, with frightening speed, Donovan dismantled the rifle and returned it to his knap sack he dared the pain and focused his eyes further on the man's face. It was then that he saw the man's pupils were dilated, just as his own did when he was looking at far distances. Was this man from Manticore? Is that how he knew him?  
  
Again a shock of pain ripped through his skull and he clutched at his head, grinding his teeth all the while trying to keep his balance. The pain was worse then all the times before.  
  
He remembered the long ride from his home on the motorcycle with this man.  
  
He remembered bursting out from a pile of cardboard to leap at this man.  
  
He remembered being strapped to a woman's back as she walked away from this man, his blue eyes sad yet strong.  
  
All of them memories from what seemed to be someone else's life.   
  
As quickly as the visions came, they disappeared, along with the pain, but Donovan's breathing became heavy and he could feel a cold sweat develop on his brow. Looking up again he watched as the man lay the woman down and stand tall, still looking out the shattered window directly at him. It was a chillingly strange staring contest.  
  
There was something about that gesture that felt threatening, and despite himself, Donovan took a step back. As if that were the cue, the man became a blur once more and ran out of the room. Off guard and confused, Donovan himself bolted to the stairwell.  
  
*****  
  
Zack saw as his son grab his head in pain. What was happening to him? What more had those bastards at Manticore done to his son? He tenderly lay Alyssa back down on the carpet, never once taking his eyes off Cole, and stood as steadily as he could on knees that felt so weak with grief.  
  
He didn't know what he was going to do. He wanted to run over to Cole, but he didn't know what he would do when he got over there. Talk to him? Try and reverse whatever brainwashing they have put him under?  
  
His mind was still in disarray when Cole took a step back. It was a trigger, and though he did not know what he would do if he got to his son, he wouldn't just let this opportunity get away.  
  
Sprinting out the door, Zack wasted no time running to the stairs, leaping down through the middle taking it four floors at a time.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan was about ten floors down when his headache returned and he misplaced his foot. He stumbled forward toward a wall and turned his shoulder at the last moment so it, rather then his head would take the brunt of the impact.  
  
Images of the woman he had killed in the forest flared once more in his mind and vanished again.  
  
Quickly he was back on his feet, shaken by the haunting images that lingered with him now, and was trying almost desperately to get to the main floor and back to the Manticore base. He did not want to meet this mysterious man.  
  
*****  
  
Max and Raven were in the lobby waiting for the elevator when Zack came running out of a doorway off to the side. He didn't even notice them as he ran past.  
  
Both were shocked to see him covered in blood both dried and fresh.  
  
"Zack!" Raven yelled, but it was too late, he was already out the doors and on the street. They only hesitated a moment before they ran out after him.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan flew out of the doors. Across the street the man was there again. Taken by surprise, Donovan's feet seemed stuck to the ground. How was that possible? No human…  
  
Just then, behind the man, the doors opened again and two females stepped out. The older of the two drew his attentions first. She was the brown haired woman from his painful visions. First the apartment and the man with the messy hair had triggered memories. Then memories of the blonde haired man as well as this brown haired woman were buried somewhere in his mind. That could not be a coincidence. And what did all these people have to do the intruder he had killed at Manticore?  
  
The younger of the two had raven black hair and also seemed so familiar, though he didn't remember seeing her in his mind's eye as he had the others. Though now it didn't matter.  
  
Donovan couldn't handle this stand off. His brain was throbbing this time, threatening to burst once more into flames. So he ran to his bike and yanked at the chain too hurried to bother unlocking it. The links of the chain yielded to strength and his bike was free. As he jumped on his only escape vehicle he saw the other man run into the alley beside the building, the two females quick to follow.  
  
He did not want to know what they were up to. He just knew that he had to get out of there and back to the base now.  
  
*****  
  
"What are you doing?!" Max yelled as she ran at Zack's heels into the alley.  
  
"That is Cole. What do you think I'm doing?" he said as he hauled his bike out from its hiding place.  
  
"You can't fight him. You know you will lose." Raven did not want to sound so pessimistic but the truth had to be voiced.  
  
"I have to do something. He is my son." His voice was oddly calm as he straddled his bike.  
  
Raven stood in his path, trying to reason with him, "That's not your son. That's Donovan." He was going head long into a fight he was guaranteed to lose.  
  
Max was confused for a moment by this reference to Donovan, but let Raven continue.  
  
Zack almost seemed to falter but that was just good acting, he said no more as he revved his engine and but the bike into gear. Raven waited until the last moment before she dodged to the side.  
  
*****  
  
Less then a block away he heard an engine rev behind him, and looked briefly over his shoulder to see a black motorcycle burst from the alley. The man's blonde hair was whipped back by the momentum and the newly created wind.  
  
A scant minute later he heard with his sharp ears another motorcycle roar to life chasing behind. Most likely bearing the two females.  
  
Donovan pumped his legs faster and his bike darted with an incredible speed that rivaled what chased him now. Around him he could hear the people on the streets gasp as his bike whizzed by at an amazing speed.  
  
Only ten minutes into the chase the pain in his skull came searing back. Again, reflexively, he pressed his hand against his temple, jaw muscles tensing. He tried valiantly to fight it off and shunt the pain away, as he had been taught, but black spots started to mar his vision. His pedaling became erratic and he leaned forward in pain. Before Donovan thought to balance himself he toppled over.  
  
An onslaught of images once again plagued his mind. This time rather then a series of brief clips, it played out like a movie.  
  
He remembered staying in the car with the spiky haired man.  
  
Being drawn into the memory, Donovan could almost feel his skin itching with impatience not wanting to wait as he broke the glass in the back seat and ran into a building. Why he needed to was not yet clear.  
  
When he arrived he remembered seeing a battle. Lydecker was standing and watching as Ty fought with the blonde haired man.   
  
His name was Zack.  
  
He remembered as the black haired girl approached him and attacked him.  
  
Then the flood of memories suddenly stopped and his vision cleared, the pain, slowly receding back to an uncomfortable throb.  
  
Donovan heard the sound of a motor close quickly on him and when he looked over Zack was already dismounting and approaching him.  
  
Quickly his mind put two and two together. It made sense now. All of them were linked to the intruder at Manticore. The black haired girl had attacked him. Ty was fighting off Zack. These people must he his enemies. Enemies to Manticore. Donovan stood to face him, letting his back pack drop from his shoulders.  
  
"Cole." Zack yelled, his run had slowed to a cautious walk.  
  
Who was Cole? His name was Donovan.  
  
*****  
  
Zack didn't know what he was going to do when he actual reached his son. And now that the moment was before him, he found himself at a loss for words. He could only think of the basics. "My name is Zack. Don't you remember me? You have to remember…" he hesitated. There was recognition in Cole's eyes now, yet he looked as though he would attack.  
  
*****  
  
"Cole—" Zack began again, but Donovan cut him off.  
  
"My name is Donovan."  
  
But Zack was persistent "Cole—"  
  
"You are the enemy." He leapt at Zack, aiming his foot for the side of Zack's head.  
  
Much to his surprise the attack was blocked. But that did not discourage Donovan for too long as he attacked again, this time with several quick jabs to the man's face. The first few were blocked but Donovan proved too fast and he made good contact, sending Zack flying back to land in a heap. Donovan almost turned, thinking the battle was over, when Zack stood again.  
  
"Cole, I —"  
  
"There is no Cole!" Donovan attacked him again. Zack jumped his sweeping kick but, while in the air, could not avoid Donovan's next back kick roundhouse combination that again sent him flying once more with a crash into some trashcans.  
  
*****  
  
Luckily this was all taking place on a relatively empty street and the few people that did pass by were too frightened to gather and watch.  
  
Several blocks away both Raven and Max had a clear view of the father and son battle. Both were surprised as Donovan continued to attack and all Zack would do was block and dodge, never once raising a fist to fight back.  
  
This may be Zack's fight, but they would not let him die. Both leaned low to try and get their faster.  
  
*****  
  
After being beaten down once more, Zack again stood up and said that name once more, "Cole, you don't—"  
  
Why wouldn't he fight? Why was he just talking? Once more, Donovan cut him off, with a kick aimed to the chest. Zack caught his foot and flipped Donovan over. A toss from which Donovan easily recovered. Was this a joke? What kind of enemy was this?  
  
Donovan charged again.  
  
"Fight me!" Donovan yelled as he attacked, finishing a flurry of kicks and punches with an elbow across Zack's face. His lip split and blood dribbled down his chin.  
  
"Manticore is controlling you—" Zack said, his voice still so eerily calm.  
  
"Manticore is my home." He kicked and Zack dodged.  
  
"No, you were stolen from me."  
  
Donovan was taken off guard. Stolen? "What are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm your father."  
  
Donovan was quick to respond, so sure of this fallacy. "I have no father!"  
  
Zack was trying to feed him lies that would turn him against his home and his family, and Donovan would not stand for it. This only served to feed Donovan's fury. He pushed aside any residual throbbing pain in his skull and attacked with an animalistic rage. The fists and feet, elbows and knees, were all too much for Zack to fend off.  
  
Zack fell to the ground on his knees when Donovan was finished with him, this time so battered and beaten he could not stand again. Yet still he raised his head, blood pouring down the side of his face from a cut above his eye. Even then his face was filled with more sorrow then hatred.  
  
And again he addressed Donovan by the strange name, "Cole. You are my son."  
  
"I am Manticore's son!" Why wouldn't this man shut up? He needed to shut this man's mouth and end all his lies.  
  
He lunged for his backpack and pulled out a handgun, releasing the safety and aiming it at Zack, who was still on his knees.  
  
So blinded by rage, Donovan noticed nothing but his target before him. For the X6 and Manticore he would be rid of this foe. This was no practice. Donovan pulled the trigger.  
  
But something hit his hand just as he shot. She was so fast, and he was so focused, that he didn't even notice as Raven lunged at his arm. But she was not fast enough to stop the bullet and it still left the barrel of his gun.  
  
*****  
  
As soon as Zack fell to his knees, Raven leapt from the bike and sprinted toward Cole. Through the streets she was more agile on foot and she would be able to maintain a run that fast for this short distance. Raven made it there just as Cole pulled out a gun.  
  
Max could only watch from afar as the gun fired and Zack fell limp to the ground.  
  
*****  
  
The girl had a death grip on the gun and Donovan struggled fiercely with her. She was stronger then she appeared. Just like the X6. Despite his efforts she wrestled the gun from him just as he kicked her off. Again, just like an X6, she landed gracefully, the gun still pointed at his head.  
  
She was strong, and with that gun trained on his forehead he analyzed the situation. It was not worth the battle. He would report this later and then he and a few of his siblings would be able to return and finish them off.  
  
The other woman arrived now and ran to Zack's side, and the girl who held the gun level with his head was also inching back.  
  
Donovan raised his hands in defeat and when she turned her head just briefly to check on Zack he ran to his bike and was off before they could react. He was astounded when there were no gunshots to chase him off.  
  
*****  
  
As soon as she saw Cole take off on his bike, Raven tucked the gun away in her pocket and turned to Max who was holding Zack. Despite Raven's timing the bullet had still hit his head. However, Raven had deflected the aim just enough so that it had ricocheted off his skull rather than shatter the bone and invade his body. He was knocked unconscious and bleeding profusely where the bullet hit.  
  
But he was alive. Thank the gods he was alive.  
  
They headed back to Fogle towers, Max on her ninja, and Raven riding Zack's bike with Zack slumped over her shoulder. With a helmet over his head no one could immediately see that he was out cold and Raven was the one actually in control of the motorcycle.  



	35. Stolen

Ty sat staring at the blank screen before him not knowing what to say. He needed to report to the General, to tell him that Raven needed to be brought home now. She had been roaming around with the rogues long enough. But he didn't know how to say that their strongest soldier had been turned.  
  
But there is no other way to get around it. Raven had to be among her family again. A quick command on the keyboard and the screen came to life. He need only wait a few moments before the general's face appeared.  
  
"Ty. I was not expecting to hear from you until you got back. A written report will suffice."  
  
"I have dire news General."  
  
"Oh?" Mathews' interest was peaked, concern seeping into his eyebrows.  
  
"I have reason to believe Raven has been exposed to the rogue propaganda too long," his hesitation was so brief that Mathews did not notice, "I believe she may have gone rogue."  
  
Mathews' head cocked slightly to the side as his brows furrowed with a conflicted doubt. The thought of Raven being turned had never crossed his mind for an instant, and yet Ty would have no reason to lie. "What makes you say this?"  
  
"She is here with the X5 in Seattle."  
  
"What do you mean she is in Seattle? Raven said she and the X5 were in Canada."  
  
"And this is the proof of her betrayal."  
  
General Mathews' expression turned rigid, "And you would suggest?"  
  
"Bring a team down here and bring her back to Manticore. The sooner we bring Raven home, the easier it will be to bring her back to us."  
  
"Do you believe Raven would have had enough time to warn the others and fled by now?"  
  
"Raven would rather hide in plain view then run away."  
  
"Hmmm." Mathews paused, looking of the screen as he thought. "I have no operatives readily available, aside from you and Donovan, and I will not underestimate them. But I need X5m and X5z immediately for a…project." He paused again and Ty waited patiently.  
  
"I'll set something with Detail. They'll make up something to freeze Seattle. When Donovan returns, head back to the base. Eden, Fox and Quince will be available at o-six hundred hours, we will meet in the debriefing room and plan your course of action then."  
  
"Understood." Ty nodded and he waited for the General to end the transmission. When Mathews' face blinked out, Ty slowly took in and let out a deep breath. He felt like he was backstabbing his own sister, but it had to be done. Raven could not be lost to them. She couldn't turn her back on her family.  
  
*****  
  
Lydecker didn't mean to spy at first. He had been walking down the hall when he heard Mathew's voice trail down the hall. 'Stupid man,' Lydecker thought as he slowly crept toward the office, 'doesn't even know to shut his door…'  
  
"…she is in Seattle? Raven said she and the X5 were in Canada."  
  
'What?' Lydecker furrowed his brows, 'Raven had lied to the General?' Lydecker wanted to laugh aloud. Mathews was so cocky and here he was, with his strongest X6 pulling the wool over his eyes. Deck should have been more concerned about losing such a skilled operative, but his growing hatred for this 'commanding' officer overshadowed any distress.  
  
"…I need X5m and X5z immediately for a …project…"  
  
Deck felt his stomach churn. There was no way he would let Mathews take his kids and warp them like all those other failures in that, that sick hall of zombies. Especially not his top two prototypes.   
  
"…I'll set something up with Detail. They'll be able to freeze Seattle…"  
  
Deck waited patiently standing outside Mathews door, leaning casually against the wall as though he were waiting to be called in. He nodded nonchalantly so some of his colleagues that passed, before once again listening intently to Mathews.  
  
"…We will meet in the debriefing room…"  
  
With his conversation ended with Ty, Mathews immediately dialed another number and put it on speaker phone. The imbecile. Didn't he understand that everything done at Manticore was highly classified and should be spoken of quietly? Yet Lydecker was grateful for Mathews' incompetence.  
  
The other line picked up. "Detail."  
  
"Agent Peak."  
  
"One moment."  
  
There was a pause on the line before another female voice answered, "Peak here."  
  
"I have people in Seattle I don't want getting out. Can you handle that?"  
  
Another pause, Agent Peak seemed to be thinking about it. "I can shut it down so that no one is allowed in or out, but as for keeping them in… there will be no guarantees."  
  
"And if I commission a thousand soldiers to you?"  
  
"A thousand?" She was surprised by the number, most times she was only given a few men to work with. "Keep them along the city limits, it might improve our chances but again there is no guarantee."  
  
"That will do."  
  
"I'll have the late breaking news ready for broadcast soon."  
  
"See that you do."  
  
In his own mind Lydecker planned what he would do. He had to get to Seattle and with Mathews sending that many people he would most likely go unnoticed. The only problem is how would he find his kids before the X6 got there?  
  
*****  
  
Max was in the alley with the still unconscious Zack. She was perusing through the clothing that was left out to dry a couple stories up to find something that would fit him. Though there was little light with the burgeoning darkness of night, Max wasn't concerned, she could see in the dark as well as she could in the light. Finding an appropriate shirt, a charcoal colored button up shirt that looked like it would fit him, she looked around to make sure no one was looking. Confident that they were beyond prying eyes Max leapt up, kicking off the walls of the alley until she caught the shirt and allowed herself to drop. Using her legs to absorb the impact she landed easily and made her way to Zack. He was laid out on some old foam cushions that someone had thrown out.  
  
Out cold as he was Zack seemed almost peaceful. She had never seen him like this before, and she suspected she never would again. Especially not after what happened today. Cole, in Seattle? Max was still shaking from that confrontation. Cole didn't even seem to recognize his father. His attacks were so furious it was like watching Zack, oddly helpless, caught in a blinding sandstorm.  
  
If Cole was attempting to kill his own father, it could only mean one thing: Manticore had her claws deeply rooted in him. Max shook her head at the loss as she stripped off Zack's blood-stained shirt, careful not to disturb the makeshift bandage on his head. She propped him up in a sitting position and put his arms into the newly acquired shirt.  
  
It was because of Cole that Max had finally begun to see how human Zack could really be and now, with it confirmed that his son was lost to him, Max didn't want to think of what downward spiral he might fall into. She could only hope he would be as strong as he had always been before.  
  
Little did she know that he had already began his descent…  
  
Raven returned from the grocery store with gauze and bandages and a bit of alcohol, which she had to swipe because they wouldn't have let her buy it. She redressed his wounds using the alcohol as disinfectant as Max looked for a suitable pair of pants.  
  
His shirt opened in the front, she double-checked to make sure there were no hidden wounds. Stripping his lower half to his boxer briefs, Raven studied the bullet wound in his leg. The bullet hadn't done much damage, thankfully missing bone and artery, and after pouring a little alcohol Raven bandaged it up without much concern. Manticore healing would ensure a fast recovery. What did worry her was the concussion he got from that bullet that nicked his head. It must be serious to have knocked him out for this long, and there were no signs of him awakening soon.  
  
If she'd only gotten there sooner, she reprimanded herself mentally, he would be fine.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan returned to the Seattle base and sought Ty out. He found his older brother sitting in a newly refurbished tactical room, sitting at a computer with eight or so screens, some larger then others, all arranged in a seemingly haphazard manner. He was researching something, but by the way he sat it was obvious that it was more a boring way to pass time then necessary recon for mission.  
  
Ty sensed his brother's return and acknowledged him. "And how was your first mission?"  
  
"Disappointingly easy. If Manticore wants them dead, don't they even suspect that they are in danger?"  
  
"A rare few do. Most are too confident in their security and the rest never see it coming." Ty finally looked away from the several screens and turned to look upon Donovan. His clothing looked disheveled and this concerned Ty. "Were there complications?"  
  
"The assassination went smoothly, only one shot, but I did not notice that she had a guest. I had a run in…"  
  
"With who?" Ty's brows knitted with concern.  
  
"Are there any other Manticore X series active in Seattle?"  
  
"Who did you run into?" They were both dodging the other's questions.  
  
"A man, he was with my target when she died. He displayed incredible speed and strength, like we have. And he…he confronted me." Donovan hesitated, he did not want to tell Ty of his headaches nor his strange dreams or visions or whatever those were. If anyone found out they might deem him unfit and unable to complete an assignment.  
  
"What did he look like?"  
  
Donovan closed his eyes, cautious to call upon his memory for fear of unwanted visions. They came despite his efforts: a flash of Zack smiling down at him, a brief view of Zack taking off his jacket and tenderly wrapping it around him… The false memories threatened to consume him and his eyes flew open. Thankfully the visions disappeared. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, I believe his name was Zack…"  
  
"Was? Did you kill him?" Ty straightened in his seat.  
  
"No…" Donovan was interested in his brothers recognition of the description, "Why? Who is this person?"  
  
Ty turned back to the computer and typed something. The large central screen came to life with pictures. Most were blurry, the subject was obvious running at high speeds when the pictures were taken, but there was one that was strikingly sharp. The sapphire eyes were unmistakable. "Yeah, that's him…Who is he?"  
  
"A rogue X5. Several escaped from Manticore back in '09."  
  
So he was an X, that would explain so much…but if he was rogue since '09 why would Donovan be having these memories of him? "Why would they run away?"  
  
"No one knows, but they are intent on destroying our home. What did he say to you?"  
  
Again Donovan hesitated, did he want to tell this to Ty? But then what reason did he have to keep this from Ty? "He said…he said he was my father."  
  
Ty nodded a new times, and seemed almost disgusted as to what he was about to say, "He fathered us all."  
  
That was the last thing Donovan expected to hear, but the words were comforting. "What do you mean?"  
  
"He was the C.O. of the X5 generation. When he led them to escape he deprived Manticore of much needed soldiers. The scientists had to scramble to create a further enhanced prototype and quickly, so they combined the genetic makeup of Zack and his second in command, Max." A drawing of Max was pulled up and Donovan had to stifle his gasp. It was the brown haired lady that he saw following Zack out the building. She was an X5 as well?  
  
"So technically he fathered us all."  
  
"But the way he said it and... and how he called me…"  
  
"Those rogues will use any excuse to get us on their side. They don't have a strong enough force to dare attack the base, especially not with us newer generations around."  
  
Donovan was somewhat relieved. That did not explain the memories he had, but knowing that he was not alone in being the son of this rogue was enough to comfort his anxieties. Just as Eden had done time and again back at the base, Ty was reaffirming that it was with the X6 that he belonged.  
  
"It is good that you have met him already."  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
"It is easier to track someone you have met in person then from just pictures."  
  
"We are supposed to track them?"  
  
"When more resources are sent we will hunt them down and bring them back to Manticore. The General has plans for them."  
  
Donovan didn't know how to respond to that, should he have been happy?  
  
"So you said that Zack was your target's guest? Who was she?" It was simple curiosity that lead Ty to ask the question.  
  
Donovan pulled out the woman's pictures. There was no harm in showing him especially now that the subject was already dead. "I was never told her name, or why…" his words drifted off as he saw Ty's eyes widen briefly then fill with what seemed to be sorrow. It was a strange thing to see on Ty's face and he quickly hid it.  
  
"Alyssa…"  
  
*****  
  
With Zack tended to Max and Raven headed to Logan's place. Logan had the proper supplies to stitch up his wounds, and it would be more sanitary then some back alley. Only a block away Max abruptly pulled over and came to a screeching stop. Raven hastily followed suit, almost losing Zack in the process.  
  
"What's wrong?" Raven asked, but she looked up ahead to answer her own question. There were police cars, regular and undercover, lined up on the curb in front of Fogle Towers. As though someone was taunting Max a radio announcer's voice made it's way to her ears relaying to her what she was seeing.  
  
"There seems to be something happening at Fogle Towers. Rumors are flying that it was a drug bust or police raid on a major player of a pedophile ring, but nothing has been confirmed. However the most supported rumor is that earlier this evening there was a murder…"  
  
"Logan," was the first thing to come to Max's mind. She flashed back to when Zack had run past her and Raven, and Cole coming out of the building across the street. The roof of that building would have been a perfect perch from which to kill Logan in his penthouse…  
  
Max revved her engine and sped off toward the police line. Raven not far behind.  
  
They tried, though failing miserably, to look inconspicuous as they half carried, half dragged Zack toward the doors.  
  
Suffice it to say a police officer stopped them. "Woah, woah," he raised his hands to stop them, "Who's he?"  
  
"Brother."  
  
"Cousin." The both said in unison. Neither was ever used to letting someone speak for them. Max looked at Raven and gave her a look.  
  
Max smiled, "He's my cousin, her brother."  
  
"What's wrong with him?" The officer asked, looking at how his feet were dragging on the ground.  
  
"He's had one to many, officer. Got into a little fight…"  
  
The officer pursed his lips, but with Max smiling so sweetly he eventually nodded and let them pass. Besides, that boy needed to get to a bed.  
  
Finally in the building the other officers paid them no attention as they headed toward the elevator. It took forever for one to come back down to the lobby. And it took a small eternity for it to get back up to the penthouse suite.  
  
Max didn't even wait for the doors to fully open before she burst out, leaving Raven to carry Zack, a task she easily handled. She was relieved to see that there was no police tape around his doors but that didn't mean he was safe… Only seeing him alive and breathing would assuage her fears. "Logan? Logan?"  
  
Logan stepped out from his office and Max let out a sigh of relief walking quickly over to him and kissing him. She could feel in his kiss that he knew what had transpired somewhere else in his building. When they pulled back from each other he proved her right, "Alyssa's dead."  
  
"Alyssa?"  
  
Max never did like the doctor but she still felt the pain of such a loss. The doctor had risked a lot to save Zack, but she didn't even hesitate to cure him. She would be missed…  
  
Raven came in carrying Zack over her shoulder. She looked around for a bit before deciding to rest him down on the physio table that Logan had never had the time to put away.  
  
She too heard Logan's words, and they saddened her deeply. Alyssa was a great asset to have, especially here on the outside, when there was no access to Manticore Doctors or scientists.  
  
Looking down on Zack's serene face, she mourned for him as well. Raven knew from the way Zack interacted with her that there was a special bond between the two. By the way Zack ran out of the stair well earlier it was obvious that he must have been there to witness her death. He had lost so much in such a little time. Raven squeezed her father's hand. If she was to liberate her family from Manticore, just as he did for his X5, is this what she would have to face? Would she even be able to handle it all?  
  
*****  
  
The halls were relatively empty as the day at Manticore came to a close. Lydecker easily slipped into the debriefing room and looked around. He remembered when he would stand at the front of a room very similar to this and tell his X5 what the objective of their next mock operation would be. That only proved to strengthened his resolve. He would not let Mathews get his grip on more of his children. He had to warn them.  
  
He looked around once more and found a suitable spot. As he walked over to the inconspicuous chair he pulled out the small bug from his pocket and secured it to the underside of the seat.  
  
*****  
  
Raven scaled down the side of the building. Stopping just before Alyssa's window, she reversed her position, hanging upside down like a bat. Slowly she inched herself lower until just her head peaked into the window. She studied the dark room momentarily with her night vision. The body was gone, but the blood was still there filling the room with its metallic smell, the kind of scent that clung to the back of the throat for days. She wondered what must have gone through Zack's mind seeing Alyssa killed before him, and by his son at that… Raven couldn't even begin to imagine.  
  
Pulling herself to the side Raven entered through the already shattered window. She stalked quietly on her tiptoes when finally a shine by a table caught her eye. It was a black helmet with red paters across it. Zack's helmet. Raven picked it up to find it full of syringes and vials.  
  
Shoulder muscles she didn't know were tense, relaxed at the sight. The room was heavy with death and she was happy she found what she was looking for so quickly.  
  
The helmet and supplies nestled securely in her bag, Raven caught up her rope and headed back up. On the way many thoughts raced through her head. Should she warn them that they had to leave the city? Ty had told her that Manticore was looking to recapture the X5 for stage three experiments. But did she want to tell them that she had spoken to her brother? Would they believe her a traitor if she did? Somehow she had to warn them that they had to leave, she just couldn't figure out how.  
  
When she reached the apartment she found Zack still lying unconscious and Max and Logan glued to the television set.  
  
"With the death of sixteen people, all displaying similar symptoms, the government has issued a state of quarantine on Seattle. No one will be allowed to come in or out until the viral agent can be identified."  
  
The scene switched to a man dressed in a suite, standing at a podium, the American emblem behind him, "It is not yet known how this disease is transferred from host to host and we cannot risk it being and airborne virus. We have declared the lockdown to prevent a wide spread epidemic."  
  
Again the screen came back to the anchor, "Border checkpoints have already turned back anyone trying to cross, and travel between sectors is being shut down as I speak. Knowing the police will have a hard time securing the entire city with their resources alone the government has issued a thousand men to help. You will be informed immediately of any further advancements in this story. This is Riviera Peak reporting."  
  
"There is now way this is just coincidence." Max said and the report ended and they were returned to their regularly scheduled programming.  
  
Logan got up and went to his computer, not even sitting down he leaned over and once again hacked into the hover drone control center. He got the video feed from the one closest the Manticore base and sure enough huge crowds of soldiers were forming in the night, being unloaded from huge choppers.  
  
There was a strange mixture of apprehension and relief that filled Raven. With the presence of Manticore confirmed she wouldn't need to warn them, and reveal that she had had contact with the X6 this whole time. And yet with Manticore here and no doubt searching for them they might very well be as good as caught. Especially if Ty and the others were assigned to the job.  
  
Max looked back over her shoulder "With Zack in the condition he is there is no way we will be able to get out of here…"  
  
"But we can't just stay here…" Logan looked at her, worried.  
  
"Our best option is probably to stay here, maybe in another apartment, or possibly camp out on the roof." Raven put forth, true to her form.  
  
"What makes you say that? Up here we are sitting ducks."  
  
"Moving around we will be easily found as well. Remember that I found you by following your scent trail. But we aren't nearly as sensitive as bloodhounds and a scent trail will fade quickly beyond our ability to sense it. At least by staying here our scent trail will dissipate and they will have nothing else to follow."  
  
"But they will be able to find us eventually if we just sit here..."  
  
"Yes, but that will take days, even with all the men they have. I'm sure we'll figure something out by then…" Raven was trying to emit confidence even though she was a little unsure of her plan. In all her real life experience she was always the predator, never the prey. Sure, there were the "escape and evade" drills, but she had never had to consider a situation where her own siblings were tracking her down.  
  
"If Cole found us here, won't they check this building first?"  
  
"We just have to hope they don't think they would be stupid enough to return here. Besides, something must be going down if they haven't come back here already…"  
  
Max and Logan seemed to be humbled at what she implied.  
  
Max turned to her lover, "Logan, you can't be a part of this…"  
  
"What?" he had been expecting to go with them wherever they went.  
  
"I don't want you to be hurt."  
  
"And I don't want you dead, or worse…"  
  
"I'll come back to you, I promise." She looked at him, running a hand through his hair, until she rested it on the back of his head and pulled him gently toward her, laying a tender, reassuring kiss on his lips.  
  
"Here," Raven interrupted the moment, handing Max a syringe and vial that she had retrieved. "You should take this now."  
  
Max nodded and took the needle, filling it with the fluid from the vial. Rolling up her sleeve she found a vein and injected the cure without even wincing. The slight fiery tingling spread all throughout her body, and she closed her eyes inhaling deeply. She could almost feel each of her muscles strengthening.  
  
*****  
  
Donovan sat down in the helicopter, almost ecstatic to leave this haunted city, even if it were only for the night. Though he did look forward to going with his siblings to capture their "father". Maybe if Zack and Max were locked away deep in Manticore the strange images would be locked away with them. And he might be able to return to a normal life with the X6.  
  
The blades slowly began to whir and Donovan watched them increase in speed, slicing through the blackness of this weary night and shredding the thickening air. Just before they lifted off Ty jumped in beside him.  
  
They had nothing else to say to each other as they hovered off the ground. Ever since Donovan showed Ty the woman he had killed, Ty had been unusually quiet.  
  
Donovan turned away from his brother and stared out the front of the helicopter. The edges of his sight began to blur and he blinked a few times, reaching up to rub his eyes, thinking it was just because he was tired from this day's exertions. In his head he began to develop a dull ache.  
  
Then, ever so silently he heard a familiar voice screaming, just barely audible under the drowning sounds of the helicopter blades. "Cole!'  
  
Zack's voice was screaming out to him, addressing him by that strange name again. He was almost scared to look out his window, but he couldn't stop himself. Turning his head he saw Zack far below, sprawled on the ground. He raised a shaky hand in the air trying to somehow reach out to him. "Kat! Cole!" he yelled over and over again, so loud it seemed his vocal chords might tear. His pleads were full of sorrow and loss.  
  
Donovan couldn't bring himself to turn his head away from the sight and for reasons unknown to him he raised a hand to the window. It was then that he saw the shackle that trapped his wrist. Pulling his hand back down to his lap, he saw that both his wrists and ankles were chained together. 'What was going on?' His breathing quickened to a frenzied pace.  
  
His eyes darted to Ty's hands beside him and they, too, were bound with metal shackles. Wait, no, those weren't Ty's hands, they looked so feminine…  
  
Afraid as to what he might see, Donovan's eyes drifted slowly up to the face of the person who now sat beside him. All his muscles tensed and he froze with dread, like a deer caught in headlights, when he saw her face.  
  
It was the woman he had killed in the forest. Was that her name? Kat? Why was she haunting him like this? She smiled at him though it was obvious she was tired, and spoke, her voice so warm, soothing and oddly familiar. "Cole, honey, are you okay?"  
  
'That name again!' He didn't know how to respond. His visions were talking to him, this had to be a vision. She smiled at him expectantly, and then asked again, though this time her soft voice was replaced by Ty's, "Are you okay?"  
  
Hearing Ty, Donovan blinked a few times and the woman disappeared, Ty, once again, in his seat beside him looking very concerned. Outside his window Zack, too, had vanished.  
  
"I-I'm fine." Donovan breathed deeply to try and slow his heart, which was beating so fast it threatened to rip a hole in his chest.  
  
"Man, you look like you just saw a nomalie."  
  
Donovan didn't listen to Ty, he was still shaken from what he saw. There was no way that could be a true memory. He wouldn't believe it. His mind must have been playing strange games with him.  
  
Again, deep in his mind, Zack's voice echoed, "You were stolen from me."  
  
He looked out the window once more as they sped over the city, "I'm fine." 


	36. On the Scent

[authors note] shit this took me forever didn't it? i would give you a list of excuses but that would just delay this another millenia. this isn't my best work, a little slower then usual, but i gotta try and build some tension for the finale...  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
That night the silence hung dead in the air. In a new apartment located halfway between Alyssa's and Logan's, Max was trying to rest on the couch and Zack lay in a strange dreaming state. Raven sat on the bed, cross-legged, beside him watching as his eyebrows twitched and his eyes moved beneath their lids.  
  
How did it come to this? She remembered what seemed a life time ago, when she had watched her father like this before, shaking and helpless in a ditch as she fed him his tryptophan all through the night. So how did it come to the point where she was hiding out with her former prey and being chased down by her own brothers and sisters?  
  
Never in her short life did she think that that would happen. Then again, she never thought that she would come to question the very organization that she had called home.  
  
Though her eyes had been opened to the atrocities of Manticore, she still missed her family. Guilt tugged at her heart. She had abandoned them. Wasn't that what she was doing? It didn't matter how much she thought one day she would break them out as well. Right now the truth of the matter refused to be hidden. She had deserted them.  
  
Zack would never leave his X5 behind. It was obvious that he protected them with every breath he took in. And with every breath he let out, he mourned for all those lost to him. Even though they lived their own lives spread all across North America no longer under his control, he still considered them his responsibility. That was what a leader was, they never turned their back on those they had sworn to protect.  
  
Ty, Eden… she missed them all so much, and she didn't want to run anymore, especially not from them. Deep in the recesses of her mind, she hoped her family would find her.  
  
*****  
  
Logan sat on the couch in his penthouse staring out into the night. He stayed away from his computer. What was the point? There was nothing he could do anyways and at this point he couldn't really give a damn about the rest of the city.  
  
What ever happened to the "knight in shining armor" concept? Guess it went down the shit hole when they decided to create transgenic super females.  
  
Outside his window he didn't need Max's sight to see the lights of the helicopters and hover drones scouring the city and upholding this "quarantine". Max may have sworn she would return, but she must not have understood the dire circumstances they were in. The city was surrounded, and hundreds of soldiers were actively searching for them. She barely escaped that time when the city was on the look out for her. But how would she avoid their clutches this time?  
  
It was hard, trying not to let the despair consume him.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning several of the X6 gathered. Ty, Donovan, Eden, Fox and Quince, among others, all sat in the conference room a few minutes before the scheduled time. There wasn't much to say to each other. They all sensed the solemnity of this meeting. The discussion that would follow would solidify their suspicions that their sister and C.O. was now their enemy.  
  
Mathews walked into the room and made his way to the head of the table. "Ty and Donovan have just confirmed the presence of at least three rogues in Seattle. Two of which are of the X5 series. They have both compiled their three dimensional profiles."  
  
He pressed a few buttons and wall behind him came to life with computer generated life sized models of Max and Zack. They all studied the faces carefully, memorizing every major detail that Ty and Donovan had put together. Height, approximate weight, hair color, eye color, jaw line, eyebrows, nose structure… After only moments, the targets were set in their minds.  
  
Except for Donovan. He didn't need to look. In fact he avoided looking at the profiles of Max and Zack, scared of another episode. Besides that he didn't need to memorize their faces, every curve and line of their faces were already burned in his memories from some strange past that he really didn't want to remember.  
  
"The objective of your mission is to capture X5m and X5z and bring them here alive. There is also a third target." Raven's picture appeared on the screen. "Raven, designate X6r, has, to the best of our knowledge, defected to the other side. At best her loyalties remain in question."  
  
'She was a former X6?' Donovan kept his question internal. It would make sense because she is the proper age, but why would she be on the outside? He looked around him and could see the rest shift slightly in their seats. It was obvious that they were uncomfortable.   
  
"She is strong and very capable, but you know her weaknesses. Fill Donovan in on the way there. Because of her apparent dissention it is unclear if there are more of the X5 that have been trapped within the city limits. Raven may have hid this information from us. These are the X5 as children." A press of a few more buttons and the screen separated into a grid showing all the escapees. "Our aging software and knowledge of their genetic make-up have given us a rough approximation of what they might look like now."  
  
One by one, each child's face morphed and aged. "If you believe you see a potential target expose yourself as a threat and their reaction will be all you need to confirm your suspicions."  
  
"How do we know they will fight?" Ty asked as he studied these new faces.  
  
"When cornered they will defend themselves. As you, they were trained to fight." He paused to let that soak in before continuing. "But it is imperative that they are brought in alive."  
  
*****  
  
Lydecker sat in his helicopter listening intently to the conversation in the conference room where he planted the bug. The first part consisted of a simple break of the objective and roll calling the targets… Finally it got the part he was most interested in.  
  
"Donovan spotted X5z entering an apartment in Fogle Towers in the high-rise district. X5m and X6r were also spotted at this location…"  
  
Lydecker motioned to pilot, one of his few trusted men, and the helicopter began to lift off.  
  
"It is highly unlikely they are still in the area, but apartment 1414 may hold clues as to where they are currently."  
  
The conversation continued until Lydecker was thirty minutes away when Mathews voice gave way to static. Now outside the bug's range, Deck pulled the earphones off and rested them on his lap, hoping he had the upper edge in this race.  
  
*****  
  
Max stared out the window. Even the sky seemed to sense the impending danger and hid behind the clouds. In the distance the sun was rising, washing the clouds with a crimson glow.  
  
This was not going to be a good day. Zack had awakened from his concussion an hour ago, but he remained disoriented and weak. Sudden movements, even if he were to just turn his head, would send waves of nausea through him. Every time he closed his eyes the world would begin to topple end over end and he would clutch on to whatever he was close to, like a small child to a mother's skirt. Even when he opened his eyes it would take a few minutes for him to recover, and for the room to come to a full stop. There was no way he would be able to fight a common bum on the street in this condition, let alone someone as lethal as an X6.  
  
Even at full strength Max feared the X6. When she fought Raven that fated day, Max knew she had no hope of winning. Even with the cure of her lack of seratonin, and the additional strength and speed that came with that, Max knew she might only be able to hold her own against a solitary X6, and for only a limited time.  
  
Currently she could hear Raven comforting Zack in the bathroom as he emptied the contents of his long empty stomach once again. They were sitting here, waiting for their doom to close in on them. Max's gut told her to run, but she knew either on the run or stationary, it was only a matter of time.  
  
She wished she was the sky right now.  
  
*****  
  
Just seeing the skyline of Seattle made Donovan want to hold his head. He tried not to look out but it could not be helped. And as he stared into the city he had flashbacks of memories he knew were his own.  
  
The haunting image of Zack holding Alyssa's newly lifeless body and staring straight at him had plagued him as he slept.  
  
The words from the conversation with him as they fought still drifted, unwanted, through his waking thoughts.  
  
'You were stolen from me.'  
  
And he couldn't hope avoid the image of Kat. Strange memories mixed with the events he could remember. Kat smiling down at him, her soothing voice comforting him. Then there was the feel of her skin as he wiped the blood from her cheek in the forest. The feel of her neck giving way and her body going limp…  
  
*****  
  
Lydecker jumped onto the tarmac the instant the helicopter landed at the Seattle base. There was no time to waste. If someone in Gillette were to find out about his unauthorized trip to Seattle he would be useless to his kids. Within minutes, he sat in the back of a van, two of his men driving him down the long empty road from the Manticore complex.  
  
They were frequently stopped at the sector checkpoints, having to confirm each time that they were military. The city was locked down tighter then Lydecker had expected. Even though it barely impeded their progress, Lydecker ground his teeth impatiently.  
  
*****  
  
Ty and the others landed in Seattle and streamed out of the helicopter. They were dressed to maintain a ruse of being teenagers old enough to drive, but young enough so that they could feign ignorance if any of the local police caught them in places they shouldn't have been.  
  
Once out of range of the noise of the helicopter Ty gave his command. "Wolf take Lenk and search the north-east side. Ajax, your with Gira on the north west. Shorn and Mar, south east. Neve and Scrip, south west. Fox, Quince, Eden, Donovan, you're with me. We will be making our way back to Fogle Towers for any further leads. Any questions?"  
  
They all looked at each other, but no one ever had questions. "Good. Move out."  
  
Splitting into their groups, the others put on their tinted helmets and got onto their more maneuverable motorcycles while Ty and those that followed him filed into a dark grey van.  
  
*****  
  
Finally, Deck and his men cleared the last sector checkpoint and were in the high-rise sector. It wasn't long before they parked. He left his men in the van and went into the building himself. He had to look as non-threatening as possible and he wouldn't be able to do that with two armed henchmen tagging along. Besides, with them in the van it would make for a quick get away.  
  
"Excuse me, have you seen any of these people recently?" Lydecker asked the first person he saw, holding up the sketches of Max and Zack as well as an updated picture of Raven.  
  
"No…" He met with the same response over and over again and once more the frustration threatened to topple his hopes. He was losing precious time. Thankfully on the second floor, someone recognized Max's face.  
  
"Uh, yeah, that one," the elderly woman pointed to the sketch of Max, "She looks like the young lady who knows Logan in the penthouse."  
  
"Thank you." Lydecker nodded and rushed off to the elevator.  
  
"Why? Is there something wrong?" the civilian asked after him, but Deck was too hurried to bother answering.  
  
*****  
  
All the Manticore soldiers assigned to each checkpoint were informed of the X6's arrival in Seattle and because of this Ty and the others sliced through the city without so much as a pause. The streets were empty compared to the normally disorganized clutter of Seattle's typical day.  
  
Minutes into their search of the northeast sector Wolf spotted something. "This is Wolf, I think I found something." He put his fist up indicating to Lenk behind him that he was about to stop and when he did Lenk pulled up beside.  
  
After several quick symbols Lenk nodded her head and raced off ahead, Wolf tailing behind about half a block. Further down Lenk swerved her bike onto the empty sidewalk and blocked the path of a solitary man no older then 23. The man stopped in confusion and started to step back only to hear another motorcycle block him from behind.  
  
Keeping his helmet on, Wolf stepped off his bike and pulled out a Colt M1911MEU. The movement drew the man to turn and face him and when he did, the look on his face was one of pure terror. He was trapped. Their was no alley to run into and the truck that was parked at the curb blocking the last possible escape route short of crawling under it.  
  
"Oh shit…" he said holding one hand up while pulling his wallet out with the other, "Oh man, oh man… Here. Just please…" He tossed the wallet with a shaky hand at Wolf's feet, but Wolf just stepped over it.  
  
Lenk, too, was now off her bike and stepping toward the man and he knew it. "Oh God…"  
  
Wolf approached him and raised the gun level with the man's forehead. Seeing his life flash before his eyes the man just collapsed to his knees and whimpered. "Tell me what you want…I'll get it for you… Just please…"  
  
Disgusted, Wolf pulled the man's head under his arm in a headlock and pushed his hair aside to get a clear view of the back of the man's neck. There he saw the barcode that he had caught a flash of earlier. But it was all wrong. Not enough digits. Not even an actual number, just random lines slapped together and tattooed on this guy's neck, and none too clearly at that.  
  
Ty's voice streamed through the com in his ear, "Wolf, report."  
  
"Fucking cheap ink." Wolf muttered under his breath, tossed the guy to the side and signaled something to Lenk. Seconds later they were back on their bikes scouring the streets once more.  
  
*****  
  
Eden, Quince and Donovan rocked with the movements of the van as they rounded another corner edging them closer to their ultimate target. Fogle towers. The ride was a quiet one. Everyone was in their own mindset, preparing for whatever they might face at their destination. Eden glanced over at Donovan, who for some unknown reason, chose to sit isolated in the farthest corner of the van. He looked tired, very tired. In fact all morning it looked like a regular human who had awaken from a disturbed sleep.  
  
He looked up and briefly met her questioning eyes. In that fleeting second of contact Eden was bombarded with a strange mixture of confusion and hatred, uncertainty and helplessness. It did not make sense. What could possibly be bothering him so? Only a few days ago he was Manticore's perfect soldier, now it was almost as if his indoctrination was unraveling before her.  
  
She could not stand to see him so lost.  
  
Within sight of the target building Ty parked the van.  
  
"Quince, Fox, secure the base of the building. Eden, Donovan, you're with me."   
  
*****  
  
Lydecker knocked twice briskly on the penthouse door. Inside he could hear a few shuffling sounds but this Logan was in no apparent rush to get the door. Finally the door opened wide and Logan stood before him. There was a flash of recognition in his eyes, or was that fear? Whatever it was was soon hidden from view. It was obvious this man had hidden many secrets in his life.  
  
There was something familiar about this man, but not having the same photogenic memory as his children, Deck could not place the face.  
  
"Do you know this woman?" Deck held out once more the sketch of Max for Logan to see.  
  
Too quickly for the untrained eye to notice, there was hesitation. But Deck saw and noted the reaction.  
  
"No." Logan started to close the door but Lydecker put his foot out.  
  
"A lady downstairs said she has visited here before."  
  
Deck could see the frustration and hatred in his eyes. "No… I've never seen her before." Why was this man so angry at him? If Deck didn't have the gun at the small of his back he might have actually felt threatened.  
  
"Please. If you know her, I'm trying to help her. She's in grave danger."  
  
"I told you, I don't know who she is." There was no doubt Logan knew who Max was, it was written all over his face.  
  
'Wait a minute,' finally it hit Lydecker. "You're Logan Cale. The journalist. Weren't you in a wheelchair?"  
  
Logan's muscles tensed, he was obviously uncomfortable that he was found out.  
  
"You were there at the conference that the May 22nd movement took hostage. This woman was there as well."  
  
"I…"  
  
Before he could deny once more Lydecker cut him off, grabbing his arm. "You have to understand Mr. Cale. There are killers after her."  
  
"Killers you created…" Logan caught himself too late and cursed himself for his stupidity.  
  
"You know who I am? Then you know about her past." Lydecker forced his way into the penthouse. Strange that he did not deny creating killers…  
  
His cover blown Logan spoke more freely, "I won't help you find her and bring her back there."  
  
"Listen to me, I'm trying to help her get out of the city. I don't want her back at Manticore either."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Manticore is being perverted by those in charge. They are trying to rounding up my children-"  
  
"Don't call them that."  
  
Lydecker reworded it. "Recapture the X5 and run some sick experiments on..."  
  
"And you don't think creating genetically spliced kids specifically for warfare isn't sick enough?"  
  
Lydecker paused to absorb the hostility. He couldn't risk this, what may be his only chance to warn Max and Zack and even Raven. Calmly he tried to reason with Logan since it was apparent he wouldn't let go of this revulsion towards him. "Hate me all you want Logan. But Max, Zack and Raven are all in danger unless I get them out of here now. We may not have much time. I can pass the checkpoints easily now, but if Manticore discovers I'm here, our window will have passed."  
  
"They are safe."  
  
"If they are still in the city they won't be soon. The X6 have probably landed already and are searching for them as we speak."  
  
"I don't believe you."  
  
"It isn't up to you to believe me." Lydecker nodded in the direction of the phone. "Let Max and the others decide."  
  
*****  
  
Raven straightened to attention. Her skilled, fast hands, that were changing the bandages on Zack's legs, came to a jarring stop.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Max asked from her seat across the room.  
  
"They're here. I can feel them."  
  
A confusing mixture of joy and fear washed over her, and she tried her best to hide it.  
  
*****  
  
Just inside the lobby, Eden paused midstep. Perking up, she sniffed the air.  
  
Donovan turned to her. "What is it?"  
  
In front of both of them Ty also paused to sniff the air. He turned and met his sister's eyes.  
  
Eden relaxed, knowing with that simple act her brother had just confirmed her suspicions. "Lydecker."  
  
"But Lydecker isn't authorized to be in Seattle…" Donovan looked back and forth between his siblings.  
  
"Exactly," Ty answered, inhaling deeply once more. "It doesn't matter. Fox, Quince…"  
  
"Yeah." They replied in unison in his earpiece.  
  
"Be on the look out for Lydecker as well."  
  
"Lydecker? I thought I caught his scent." Quince replied. Neither he nor Fox were surprised. They all expected Deck would try something like this ever since they were told that Mathews had usurped his position of command. But what could Lydecker do to stop them?  
  
Using the stairs it did not take them long to get onto the 14 floor and into apartment 1414. The room was void of everything but a few detectives with cameras and notepads who Eden easily took out before they even realized others had entered the restricted area.  
  
Alone to conduct their search, they all relaxed, casually walking around the place, dumping out garbage pails and searching piles of paper for any clue to Raven's current whereabouts.   
  
It wasn't long before Eden found herself at a small table with simply framed pictures. No sooner did she see those pictures were her eyes drawn to the face. That kind face, so different from the rigid military faces that surrounded them day in and day out. Picking up the picture frame, she drew he fingertip lightly across the jaw-line of the doctor. "Doctor Munrow?" She looked questioningly at Donovan. "Was she your target?"  
  
Various questions and comments came through their coms when the other X6 heard this.  
  
Donovan froze. Eden was looking at him almost accusingly. She held the same look in her eyes that Ty had when he first learned this truth. He didn't know what to say.  
  
Ty walked between them, slicing through their eye contact, and spoke on Donovan's behalf. "He did not know her. You have just demonstrated why Mathews sent him rather than one of us. Now keep your mind of the objective soldier."  
  
Eden quickly sapped the emotion from her face at the command and she nodded curtly, replacing the picture frame and continuing about the apartment. The others, who were a constant low noise in the background this whole time, were now dead silent as well. Together, with no need for a sound, the X6 mourned for Alyssa all across the city.  
  
*****  
  
Quince signaled to Fox, who quickly came to his side. He pointed down an alley, and Fox peaked around the corner to see what concerned his brother. Pulling back he communicated silently with Fox to plan their course of action.  
  
Fox straightened and in a hushed tone spoke to his commanding officer. "Ty."  
  
*****  
  
"Yes Fox." Ty pressed his finger to his ear, listening to what Fox had to report. Ty nodded a few times, it was habit, and upon hearing all he had to say, he gave his order, "Understood. Proceed."  
  
Ty breathed in heavily through his nose. The whole apartment reeked of blood. Of death. A scent he was all too familiar with. Walking past the shattered window he caught the faintest whiff of another familiar scent and came to an abrupt stop. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly and deeply, singling out the scent he was interested in. By now Eden and Donovan saw Ty's actions and were drawn to him, interested in his findings.  
  
Careful of the sharp edges of glass, Ty leaned out the window and looked around. Like a skilled hunter in the forest, he found evidence of his prey's passing. He pulled the long black hair from the edge of the window. "Sloppy, Raven," he mumbled to himself. 'It's like you want us to find you, sister.'  



	37. Crossing Lines

Ty lead Donovan and Eden as they free climbed up the side of the building. At each new floor they would stop and Ty would take a moment to try and find signs of Raven's passing. And each time he would wave them on. It wasn't long before he led them to the penthouse.  
  
Just under the window Ty stopped. There was a barely audible noise coming from within the apartment, even when he focused his ears. It could have been a conversation between two people then again the sound was so muffled it could have been a blender. Soundproof glass and walls were the only explanation as to why Ty could barely hear anything. Whoever lived in there had secrets to keep. A perfect place for the X5 to call their own.  
  
Hanging by only his fingertips on the thin window frame Ty pulled his head over the ledge to peer into the apartment. There was no one in sight but he could still hear something.  
  
"What now?" Below him Eden was growing impatient. She knew the longer they waited, the more opportunities the X5 had to escape, if they hadn't already. She also knew that three teenagers scaling the side of a building in broad daylight might begin to draw unwanted local attention.  
  
"The roof," Ty motioned with his head as he got hold of a better hand grip and moved to the side. They had to get around the huge living room windows before they could climb up any further.   
  
*****  
  
"Time! We are running out of time!" Lydecker yelled, he didn't know how else to get this moron to get Max on the phone. "Each second you hesitate brings Max closer where both you and I know she shouldn't be."  
  
Logan clenched his jaw, firing bolts of hatred in Lydecker's direction. What if what Lydecker was saying was true? What if he was their only chance for freedom?  
  
*****  
  
As he climbed up to the roof, following closely at Eden's heels, Donovan caught a quick glance of the interior of the apartment. This was the penthouse he had seen that man in, the spiky haired one that had set off one of his headaches. Was he also involved with those rogue X5? Why was everything linking together like this? Until this mission he didn't even know Manticore rogues existed. Before he had seen them he couldn't comprehend how anyone would want to leave Manticore.  
  
In the back of his mind he could feel the beginnings of another headache. What was it this time? There was nothing to set it off, no reason for his pain to return. It seemed now the images were boiling up on their own. Forcing their way to his surface thoughts with no trigger. It was a scary prospect and he fought the impending headache, but with no luck. He grinded his teeth in pain.  
  
"Donovan, are you alright?" Eden looked down at him, having heard his groans.  
  
Before he could answer that he was fine, stars exploded in front of his eyes and he felt his knees go weak. His balance lost he grabbed out for anything he could hold on to. Luckily Eden's foot was right there and he clung tightly to it.  
  
"What are you doing?" she yelled quietly down to him as she felt him grab hold, almost ripping her off the building in the process. Luckily, Ty had already made it on the roof and had a firm grip on her.  
  
"Donovan! Get it together!" Ty ordered as he started to pull them both up and onto the roof. "What is happening to you?"  
  
Waves of nausea hit Donovan as he tried to control his own thoughts but it was like a hurricane of someone else's life. Zack, Max, the man who lived in this apartment… his name. It was Logan.  
  
Eden rested on her stomach on the ledge of the roof, her legs, to which Donovan was firmly attached, still hung over the edge.  
  
"Come on!" Ty reached over and grabbed Cole's arm pulling him up in one swift motion.   
  
"Donovan? What's wrong?" Eden shook him by the shoulders. But it was like he was caught in his own little world. "Ty? Do you know what is wrong with him? Why is he so pale?"   
  
"Did he get his supplements today?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Shit." Ty slapped Donovan with the back of his hand. With that Donovan shot up straight and took a gasp of air as though he had been struggling to breath. "What the hell happened down there?"  
  
"Just got a little dizzy."  
  
"Are you fine now?"  
  
"Yeah." To prove his point Donovan rolled back kicked his legs up in the air and landed on his feet. He hid how painful it was to do such a simple motion. "Perfectly."  
  
Ty eyed him over suspiciously and Donovan resisted the urge to swallow nervously. If they knew the truth, if they knew what Donovan could see and how intense these memories were, they were sure to send him back to Manticore to crack open his skull and see what was wrong. That was what they did to all nomalies wasn't it?  
  
"Alright then, let's find an entrance." Still not fully convinced Ty accepted Donovan's reassurances reluctantly. Ty was no fool, he and Eden could have handled two or maybe even three rogues on their own, but with Raven in the equation they would need Donovan's superior speed, strength and agility.  
  
"Over there," Eden pointed to a haze of light emanating from what must of have been a small skylight. They all pulled their guns out of their hidden holsters and walked over to the opening. Perfect.  
  
"Quince, Fox, we're going in." Ty warned his contingency plan downstairs. After a quick glance to both Eden and Donovan, Ty leapt into the air, firing two bullets to shatter the glass just before he fell through. Eden and Donovan dived in close behind. Ty rolled forward as he landed to make room for those behind him. Still crouching, guns at the ready, Ty aimed around the room.  
  
But it was empty.  
  
"Shit." Eden swore as she dropped her arms to the side.  
  
Donovan, who had already made a quick round of the apartment came back shaking his head. "Nothing."  
  
"No," Ty straightened, "Raven stayed here. And Lydecker was here, recently. And he knew we were coming. I can smell his sweat. Fox, they are on the run, get ready."  
  
*****  
  
Lydecker looked about him anxiously as Logan lead him from the elevator to Max's room. Logan couldn't believe he was doing this, but Max had agreed to meet with Lydecker and unfortunately he had no veto power.  
  
Finally they got to the room and Logan knocked briskly three times. Raven opened the door and let them pass. "Lydecker," she virtually growled as he past her by.  
  
Strange that one of his finest soldiers would be sneering at him now when only a few months ago she would have been taking orders from him. After a quick check of the hallway, Raven closed and locked the door once more. Before they could even take in the new setting, Raven had fully disarmed Lydecker from the pistol at the small of his back, to the knife strapped to this ankle, to the communicator in his ear which she shut off. Max stood in front of the bed, where Zack was still lying on the verge of consciousness. Her expression was tight and cold. To her this was like cutting a deal with the devil himself, which was evidence enough that she was aware of their desperate situation.  
  
"Logan. I told you to stay upstairs." Max looked upset, getting Logan mixed up in this was the last thing she wanted.  
  
"I was driving myself crazy up there," he admitted, seeing she was about to protest he cut her off, "Don't bother arguing, I'm in it for the long haul now." All Max could do was nod and turn her attentions back to Lydecker.   
  
"You said you could get us out of here."  
  
"I have a van in the east alley with two of my loyal guards. With their military clearance we will be able to get out of the city limits and you can hide in the surrounding forest."  
  
"How do you know your guards are loyal?"  
  
"Please, just trust me."  
  
*****  
  
Donovan easily pried open the elevator door and they all looked over the edge into the elevator shaft.  
  
Ty tucked his guns away "Head down, trace the scent."  
  
*****  
  
Max, paused considering this. "Why are you helping us?"  
  
"Mathews is in charge now. He's moving Manticore ahead and he's rounding you up to do it."  
  
"Ahead?" Raven cut in. "Do you mean like all those X's in the basement?"  
  
Lydecker nodded. Her suspicions confirmed, Raven looked at Max with concern in her eye, and even a hint of fear. If Raven feared it, Max knew she had reason to be scared.  
  
"We need to get out of here, and we need to do it now." Lydecker said as he walked toward the barely conscious Zack. "Can you move?"  
  
Zack grunted and sat up. He would have protested accepting Lydecker's help but right now his head was throbbing from his concussion and his leg was aching from that stray bullet. Had he any semblance of his regular strength he would have ripped out Lydecker's throat right here, just as he had promised Kat. However at the moment Zack was having difficulties just standing up and steadily he got to his feet and Raven was quick to support him.  
  
"Let's get to that van." Max said as she took Zack's other arm over her shoulders.  
  
Logan reached for the door knob.  
  
*****  
  
Deck's scent was fresh, probably laid down within the hour, if not less, and it didn't take them long to pry open the doors and stalk out on the floor that Deck was on. A few doors down where Lydecker's scent lead they heard someone opening a door.  
  
With a quick signal to the others, they used their inborn speed and raced to the door, pulling their weapons out as they ran, training their sights on whoever stood behind that door before it was fully ajar. There was no way the X5 would escape short of leaping out the window, and even for an X6 this was a lethal height.  
  
Ty stood in front, Eden and Donovan to his sides, as the door swung open.  
  
"Oh my…" the old lady's eyes widened in fright as she clutched at her chest, her dog let out a barrage of annoying high pitched screams.  
  
"Damnit!" Ty swore as he lowered his gun and tried to pick up Deck's scent once more. Raven would have never made that mistake.  
  
*****  
  
As the elevator began its slow decent, Raven heard a dog bark. Followed by somebody yelling "Damnit!" There was no mistaking it; she could tell it was her brother's voice. So Lydecker was justified when he said they were running out of time.  
  
"They're here…"Raven ripped out the console of the elevator and did some quick rewiring. "Hold on to something." After Raven's modifications the elevator dropped at a gut wrenching speed close to freefall, ignoring any passengers that wished to go down. Raven, Max and even Zack looked disturbingly comfortable as the floor fell away.  
  
Wires in hand, Raven watched the floor numbers flash by. If she didn't time this right they wouldn't make it out of this elevator alive. "Brace yourselves." 5…4… Raven quickly crossed another two wires and the brakes kicked in. As though it were second nature, Max, Raven and Zack all absorbed the impact with their legs, while Logan and Lydecker went crashing to the floor.  
  
"Lead the way," Raven pulled Lydecker back onto his feet.  
  
Slightly disorientated from the fall, Lydecker's knees wobbled a bit, but both he and Logan soon regained their composure. "That way." He pointed and they headed to the lobby restaurant. Deck led them back through the kitchen and out the back door, where a van awaited them.  
  
*****  
  
"What was that?" Donovan turned around to focus his ears on the elevators that were across from the ones they had come out of. "The elevator. It's descending too quickly."  
  
*****  
  
They all piled into the back of the van, careful to place Zack in a comfortable spot as his breathing grew heavy and he started to black out again. Raven was the last to get in, and when she closed the door behind her she heard the ominous click of an automatic lock on the back door. And only then did she realize the situation.  
  
"Get us out of here now," Lydecker called out to the driver, "You know where to go."  
  
"They'll go, but not where you want them to," Raven said behind him.  
  
"Raven's right, once again." the driver and passenger turned to reveal their true identities. Quince and Fox had smirks on their faces, guns pointed at Raven and Max. "I think we were left out of the briefing on your side mission, Deck."  
  
Fox smiled, then spoke into his communicator, "Yeah, we got them."  
  
"It is good to see you as well, Raven. You have been too long away from Manticore. Ever since you stopped communicating we all became concerned for your well being."  
  
"Believe me Quince, if I could have I would have gone home a long time ago." Max turned to Raven, shocked at what she had just said.  
  
"What are you doing here anyways?" Raven turned to Fox, "And point that gun somewhere else." Raven's voice was full of authoritative power and Fox, though somewhat reluctantly, aimed his gun at Lydecker and Logan instead.  
  
Raven looked first to Max, then to Zack who had by then passed out once more. There was a brief look of guilt in her eyes before she filled them with contempt. "Why wasn't I informed of this course of action anyways? It directly interferes with my objective."  
  
Quince looked suspiciously at her. "The Triumvirate was growing restless, they wanted the X5 and you were too slow."  
  
"If they had the patience I would have given them all the rogues instead of just these two. Regardless, if I had been let in on this raid, it would have gone down more smoothly."  
  
"We had reason to question your loyalties."  
  
"Excuse me?" Raven looked shocked and angry. "What? Did you think they would make me see their light? They have no purpose, no drive, no objective. I would rather die then be forced to become a rogue. Manticore is my home and you are my family. What reason would I have to leave you?"  
  
*****  
  
Max watched Raven speak the words in disbelief. She had never gotten herself to fully trust Raven and this clinched it. She was betraying them, she had been all along. If they had gotten out of Seattle they probably would have lead Raven right to another X5. Max thought she had changed, thought that maybe she was one of them now, but how could she be so naïve?  
  
Maybe it was because Zack seemed to trust her so whole heartedly. He seemed to be forming some sort of silent bond with her. Raven was so like Zack, being the C.O. of the X6. But that was just it. She was the C.O. of the X6. Zack could never bring himself to leave his role of protector, what would make it easier for Raven to leave her family behind?  
  
In such cramped quarters, with a gun being aimed at Logan's head by such a steady hand, all Max could do was grind her teeth.  
  
"Do we have anything to secure their hands and feet?" Raven asked, keeping her eyes on Max.  
  
"Yeah, here." Fox tossed her some plastic ties.  
  
"Turn around." Raven ordered Max in a steely voice.  
  
Max stared defiantly back at her, not moving a muscle.  
  
"I said turn around."  
  
Again nothing.  
  
"If you hadn't noticed Max you're the one with the gun pointed to your head."-she paused-"What? Are you mad that your little recruit turned out to be a double agent all this while? You were the fool if you think you could change me. I am an X6. Manticore Elite. Now turn around!" She pulled back her fist and punched Max across the face with such force that Max almost fell to the floor of the van.  
  
"Stay away from her," Logan finally spoke. He knew any direct confrontation with these X6 would mean death but he couldn't stand to see Max abused this way.  
  
"Oh," Raven faced Logan as she bound Max's wrists and ankles, "So the good little puppy dog is talking now. I hated having to put up with you all this while. You made Max soft. It makes me sick to think I was created from such a weak genetic code."  
  
"You bitch."  
  
"Consider your situation, Logan," Raven replied in a rather pompous tone. Logan looked at Quince, who still had a weapon aimed at his forehead.  
  
*****  
  
They waited a few minutes in tense silence, but it wasn't long before Ty and the others returned. Ty opened the back door of the van and hurriedly pointed the gun at Raven. "Why is she not restrained?"  
  
"There's no need Ty, she's still with us." Quince reported in what could be considered a happy tone in Manticore standards.  
  
His eyes narrowed to slits, "Really."  
  
"What brother, did you really think I would be that weak?"  
  
After a few more moments Ty grudgingly lowered his gun and turned his attentions elsewhere. "Ah, Deck, good to see you. We were wondered where you had run off to."  
  
"Do you think it will stop with the X5, Ty?" Lydecker spat at him. "After they finish with them they will turn on you. You and all your family will be turned into remote controlled vegetables with metal flowing through your veins. Do you really want that to happen?"  
  
"I would call it evolution." Ty answered calmly.  
  
"Then I would call you an idiot."  
  
"Enough!" Ty struck Deck with the butt of his gun, knocking him unconscious. "Donovan, Eden, get the van, follow us closely."  
  
Donovan, who had been standing well off to the side, nodded and headed to where they had parked the van, Eden turned and walked with him.  
  
"Who's he?" Ty nodded to Logan.  
  
Max looked at Logan, the blood drained from her face. There was nothing but threat in Ty's voice, and at Manticore threats are always followed through. As she stared into Logan's eyes it was like she was already staring at his corpse. What had she done? Why had she gotten Logan mixed up in all of this? Why did she have to steal that damned statuette all those months ago?  
  
Without words, Logan looked into her eyes and comforted her with his warm gaze. 'I will never regret having you in my life,' his eyes seemed to say.  
  
Raven shrugged her shoulders, "He's Max's civilian friend."  
  
"Then he is not part of the objective. And now he knows too much," Ty stepped up into the back of the van and grabbed Logan by the collar of his shirt with one hand, lifting him from his sitting position. Logan's hands were not bound and he grabbed onto Ty's wrist, trying to pry open his grip.  
  
"Logan!" Max yelled and she leapt at Ty with her shoulder. She had been struggling with her restraints all this while, but Raven had tied them tight. With her ankles bound and her hands behind her back Ty had no troubles handling her with his free hand, shoving her back into her place. With a loud thud Max's head hit against the side of the van. With Max taken care of Ty reached for his gun.  
  
"No," Raven held Ty's wrist and he looked at her in surprise. "You don't understand how much he pissed me off while I was out here. He never trusted me. I'll take care of him happily."  
  
"There you go," Ty said, pulling at Logan and shoved him out the back of the van. Logan landed in an ungraceful heap on the ground. Raven stepped down and out of the van and picked him up again by the collar of his shirt and dragged him a few feet to a pile of cardboard that had been discarded behind a dumpster. Logan kicked his legs and grabbed at her fingers, struggling to free himself from her grip. He fought even harder as the rays of the sun reflected into his eyes off the gun Raven pulled out.  
  
By now Max had shaken off the dizziness and could see what Raven was doing. "Raven! No! Logan!!" She tried to run out after them but Ty sat her back down none too gently.  
  
"Stay down." He glared at her and gripped a hand around her neck pinning her torso to the side of the van. Ty even knew to step down on her feet pinning those down as well. There was nothing she could do.  
  
*****  
  
"I knew it," Logan spat through his teeth as Raven held him over the trash pile  
  
Raven's face turned to stone, "You don't know the half of it, Logan."  
  
*****  
  
The smoke trailed from Raven's gun and Logan's feet peeked out from behind the dumpster. Max could do nothing but stare, her mouth slightly agape in disbelief. Raven looked back at her and Ty, as though to make sure they were watching, before turning once more on Logan. A tear dropped from Max's eye as she saw Raven pull the trigger a second time, heard the bullet as it exploded out the barrel of the gun. But mostly Max felt it in her bones.  
  
Raven stood staring at Logan's body for an eerily long length of time.  
  
"Two bullets? A little extensive don't you think?" Ty asked as Raven got back into the van and close the doors behind her.  
  
"Hey, if the guy can walk after being a paraplegic, I want to make sure he stays down."  
  
Ty cracked a smile, "I was worried for a while there. It is good to know you're back."  
  
"I was never gone. Don't ever doubt that."  
  
The van started to pull away and Raven took a seat across from Max, ignoring her fierce glares.  
  
*****  
  
Logan closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, waiting. Wondering if it would hurt, if he would be able to feel the bullet pierce his skull moments before it killed him. His life didn't flash before his eyes like the novels and movies all say, he just froze. Time stood still, and darkness surrounded him, he didn't know where he was, what his name was, or why he was there, just that his life was about to end.  
  
He heard every sound the gun made as the trigger was pulled. Raven let go of the collar of his shirt and he dropped onto the pile of garbage behind him. The bullet left the barrel and he relaxed his whole body, accepting his death. He could feel the tiny shockwave of air that the bullet displaced and he waited for that moment when everything would cease to exist.  
  
But it never came.  
  
He felt the bullet breeze inches from his head and it took a moment for him to realize that he was still in the world. His whole body still frozen in fear, Logan slowly opened his eyes. Raven stood over him, gun still aimed at his head, but she was looking over toward the van. As though sensing he was watching her she turned back and he had no time to react as she fired the gun again.  
  
Once more the bullet missed him and buried itself into the garbage a mere inch from his ear. Numb with a strange mixture of confusion and fear, Logan lay still, not wanting to move a muscle. She held him there with her icy silver gaze, staring at him with a strangely lifeless expression on her face. He waited once more for her to lift up her gun and fire another bullet, one with an aim that was true, one that would end this torturous suspense.  
  
But that, too, never came.  
  
Raven left. Logan could vaguely hear Ty saying something, and then the door of the van slammed shut. Soon after, the engine started and the van pulled out of the alley, inexplicably leaving Logan behind with his life. 


	38. Family

"Lydecker." Mathews' tone was one of disappointment. "I expected better from you. I thought you of all people would want Manticore to move ahead into the future."  
  
Lydecker stepped toward the screen with Mathews' face. It was difficult to try and intimidate someone who was safe miles away in their office. "The future lies in genetics Mathews, not making our kids dependant on machines."  
  
"You never understood did you Lydecker. No wonder the Triumvirate chose me to take command."  
  
"You only got your position by kissing ass."  
  
Mathews looked unimpressed. "Don't you remember the dream Manticore was born from, Lydecker? Instead of sending a thousand soldiers to their doom, send ten perfect soldiers and lose none. Well there is no need to wait anymore. The dream is at our fingertips. Why do you refuse to be a part of something you have been trying to achieve for most of your life?"  
  
"My goal was to create a supersoldier, a perfect human." He stressed the word 'human'. "Not some programmable machine that wears the face of a human. I cared for my X5 like you will never care for any one of your creations. Each one of my kids is a precious human life. A child gifted to rise above the rest. But you, you are turning Manticore into a production line. Rifling half humans out to create an army which contradicts the very dream you think you believe in."  
  
"And you, Lydecker, never could understand that that is exactly what they are. Creations. Just because you took part in the gene splicing process does not mean they are your children. You have lost your wife. She is not coming back. But you could never let that go, could you? You always had that sick mentality that they were the children you never had with her. Like Max right? What a daughter might have looked like. And Zack, blonde hair, blue eyes, a perfect son."  
  
"You son of a bitch."  
  
"I actually remember a time when I respected you and your work Lydecker. And I remember the day I was disillusioned to your ways. But turning away from Manticore like this, you knew there was only one way this would end for you. I guess I can admire the fact that you are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for your 'children'."  
  
Lydecker stood tall, his chin straight out, "At least there is something in my life worth dying for."  
  
In response Ty nodded his head and smiled. "Ty," Mathews called his soldier forward.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Mathews never took his eyes off Deck as he relayed his instructions to his soldier. "Send a few expendable soldiers with Lydecker back to Manticore. We will deal with him here."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Ty looked over his shoulder to the two soldiers who stood at the door, each old enough to be his father. They both nodded their heads to the silent instructions and walked to either side of Lydecker, roughly guiding him to the door.  
  
Raven, who had been standing in the corner all this while, watched in silence as they took Lydecker away. All the while he held his head high. He did not yell in protest or struggle against their grip. His hands and feet were not bound and yet he walked freely to his death. The look in his eyes betrayed that he had known this is how it would all end. Lydecker had left Manticore fully aware of the consequences. How strange that he easily took on this fatherly role for children who despised him so.  
  
Mathews looked over Ty's shoulder. "Raven."  
  
At her name, Raven quickly turned her attentions back to the screen and stepped forward.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"My apologies for cutting short your mission."  
  
"No apologies are needed sir. I only ask that next time I be informed of the updated mission objective. Had I known, I would have facilitated the effort."  
  
"I will keep that in mind soldier. In any case I commend you on what you did accomplish."  
  
"Thank you sir."  
  
"Earlier you mentioned some sort of serum that made the X5 stronger. Were you able to acquire some for further study?"  
  
Raven reached her hand in her pocket and felt the two plastic tubes, each holding a syringe filled with the liquid that Mathews referred to. "Yes," she said, pulling one of the needles out and holding it out for Mathews to see, "I was only able to secure one sample. I should warn you however that it seems this serum is highly addictive and the body soon becomes dependant."  
  
"Leave it with Ty."  
  
For a moment, Raven paused. Why was he asking her to give the syringe to Ty, when she could have just as easily returned it to Manticore? "As you wish," she said simply and handed the serum over to her brother.  
  
"Now, I suggest you get some rest. When you return to Manticore you will resume your training."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Dismissed."  
  
After a quick nod, Raven left the room.  
  
Mathews waited a moment before he addressed Ty again, "Ty. Monitor Raven's actions."  
  
"Monitor her actions, sir?"  
  
"I do not believe she is fully on our side."  
  
"But I saw her, sir. She beat on the X5 with no signs of guilt. She even killed their human affiliate…"  
  
"Was it not you who first brought to my attention that there was a good possibility X6-r had turned from Manticore?"  
  
"I know sir, I was…" Ty wanted scared, but there was no such word in his vocabulary, "concerned. But I see now that she had to do many things to gain the trust of the X5. A necessary step in completing the objective she had set out to accomplish."  
  
"You are too quick to defend her Ty. But I am not so quick to believe. We cannot yet be sure of her alliances. Only when she returns to Manticore, and she is retrained may we be confident. Play along with her charade until she is either back at Manticore, or she reveals her true loyalties."  
  
Ty breathed in slowly. It could be true that his trust in his sister was blinding him to her true intentions. But then it wouldn't make sense that she allowed the X5 to be captured. He swallowed, conflicted, but ultimately realized that Mathews' words held weight. "Yes sir."  
  
"Now what is the status the of remaining X6?"  
  
"They are all deployed throughout Seattle and are currently sweeping the city. We will return to Manticore by midnight."  
  
*****  
  
For an hour Raven roamed the compounds of the Seattle Manticore base. There were few places to run and even fewer to hide. Upon studying the doorways Raven noted that virtually all of them were electronically controlled.  
  
Finally her meandering path lead her to the mess hall where she found Ty sitting alone eating a late lunch. She could have sworn he had not seen her enter, and so his greeting took her off guard.  
  
"Hello Raven, here for a little snack?"  
  
"Yeah, needed a little sustenance." She headed into the back to grab something from the fridge. When she came back out she set her tray down and sat in front of her brother. After a few silent bites of the bland food Raven tried to start a conversation. "So, how have things been at Manticore? I would like to say I was surprised that Mathews got promoted, but that was a long time coming."  
  
"No one was surprised, except for maybe Lydecker. But then again, he never thought the Triumvirate would unseat him."  
  
"He must have known. I mean his head was already in the guillotine when the X5 escaped, it was only a matter of time before the blade fell."  
  
Ty poked at his food. "You should have kept up your communications."  
  
"I had to go silent, there were rare opportunities where I could have sent a message."  
  
"You could have found the time."  
  
"What is wrong with you? I have gone silent before, and for longer periods than this."  
  
"And even then you communicated more often."  
  
Raven beheld her brother. She caught the vein of hurt in his words. He had seemed truly upset that she had cut off communications with them. "I would never abandon my family Ty. You must know me well enough by now to know that is the truth." She felt guilty speaking the words, when she knew it was only a few days ago that she thought of leaving Manticore and living a free life just like Max and Zack and the other escapees.  
  
"It was just a mission, Ty." Raven stood and put her tray away, walking out of the mess hall to leave the awkward silence behind.  
  
Just outside the door she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. She would have to worry about her siblings later, right now she had to check on something.  
  
*****  
  
Fox and Quince were sitting down in front of the wall of security monitors.  
  
"I can't believe we are doing this." Fox admitted as he leaned back in his chair stretching his arms over his head.  
  
"I don't know why we have to watch everything Raven does. She hasn't turned. I know she would never turn. You saw her in the van, she hasn't changed a bit."  
  
"Mathews is just a little paranoid. Though I guess I was a little paranoid too at first. But seeing her off that guy in the alley," he turned his head to the screen, "Wait, she's heading toward the brig."  
  
*****  
  
Max lay on the bunk in her cell. These were the same cells they had been locked in when they tried to rescue Brin. Everything was the same except for the fact that her hands and feet were firmly secured, by someone who knew her capabilities. And this time there were no human guards to confuse. All she could do was lie there and stare at the ceiling.  
  
In the cell next to her should could hear some rustling. Zack was finally coming to.  
  
"Where… Max?"  
  
"Zack, you're awake. How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm… fine…" Zack slowly maneuvered himself into a sitting position, taking in his surroundings, "Sanders…What's going on? Last thing I remember was climbing into Lydecker's." His voice turned to acid, "Lydecker…"  
  
"No. Raven." Max told him everything that happened after he passed out in the van. How Fox and Quince had somehow disposed of Lydecker's soldiers and sat in their place. How Raven was upset with her siblings for interfering with her mission. How Raven shot Logan dead.  
  
As she told the story, Zack remained silent. She looked over at him and could see the disappointment fill his eyes. She couldn't help but feel guilty being the one to lay this all down in front of him.  
  
Raven was the only person that he had learned to trust that wasn't an X5 and she had been lying to them all along. Max could almost watch as the walls Zack had constructed around himself over the years, walls he had brought down to let Raven in, went slamming back up. After this he would never be able to trust anyone again. That is, if he was ever given the chance.  
  
For the next little while, what seemed to stretch an eternity, there was just silence. Neither of them had moved, Max still lay on the bunk staring above her and Zack was sitting up, his head bowed down, eyes closed. He had said nothing in response to Raven's betrayal but instead just sat there, frozen in disbelief.  
  
The silence was shattered as a door opened and they could hear light footsteps of a single person entering the room. They both turned their heads to lay their eyes on whoever intruded upon their locked sanctuary.  
  
It was Raven.  
  
Immediately Max leapt to her feet, albeit clumsily since her ankles were bound, and unconsciously let out a growl. "You bitch."  
  
Raven looked at her. There was no semblance of an expression on her face.  
  
"I'll never forget what you did. Nothing at Manticore can make me forget that."  
  
Still Raven did not respond and instead stared blankly at Max.  
  
"Do you have nothing to say for yourself? Is this the kind of life you want to lead? Logan was an innocent man and you just take his life without a second thought. You aren't a soldier, you're just a cowardly murderer doing Manticore's dirty work."  
  
Still Max couldn't get anything out of Raven and it was frustrating her more than these plastic ties around her wrists.  
  
"I don't fucking care if you were made from my genes. To think I took a bullet for you… I should have let you die. Doesn't matter, I'll fix that mistake."  
  
Finally Raven stepped toward her and said in a cold steely voice, "Don't say things you will regret in the future."  
  
"I was trained at Manticore, unless you have forgotten. I know how to become a cold blooded killer."  
  
Raven turned away from Max, seemingly tired of her little rant, and stood directly in front of where Zack still sat on his bunk. His piercing blue eyes, so like her own, had been following her movements ever since she had entered the room.  
  
"I see you are awake. Are you well?" she asked him, in that same cold uncaring voice. "I would hate to deliver damaged goods."  
  
He did not respond right away, instead they locked sapphire glares. After a tense moment, he finally spoke, this own voice matching Raven's callous tone, "I trusted you."  
  
If it were possible, Raven's body went even more rigid. "And that was your fatal mistake," she said before she abruptly left.  
  
*****  
  
Fox watched as Raven left the X5, "That was pointless. Did you see her slip them any secret plans to escape?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Neither did I. Fuck this, let's get something to eat."  
  
*****  
  
"Donovan." Eden called when she saw him guiding his bike out of the complex. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Out to help the others sweep the city," he paused only briefly to acknowledge her question before he continued on his way.  
  
She crossed her arms, "Why? They won't need the help."  
  
Donovan stopped again. "The more people out there to search the faster we can get out of this city and back to Manticore."  
  
"What's the rush?"  
  
He answered quicker then he wanted to. "This mission is boring me."  
  
"There is something else." Eden squinted her eyes.  
  
"No." Donovan shook his head as casually as he could manage.  
  
"Something has been bothering you. It started yesterday." She lay a hand on his shoulder concerned. "You seem a little out of it…"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, I feel fine."  
  
"When we were scaling the building, what happened to you?"  
  
"I just got a little dizzy, lost my footing, that's all."  
  
"Donovan, you've free climbed cliffs and buildings with us in training before. You were always the first to the top."  
  
"Maybe it was just the rush of the hunt." Donovan shrugged off her concerns. "I'm fine really, I just need to get out of here."  
  
"Either way you can't leave Manticore." Eden said flatly.  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"We need you here at the base."  
  
"Why? There's already a crowd. You, Ty, Fox, Quince, and Raven," he counted them on his fingers, "That is more than enough to handle the X5 we have captured."  
  
"That's what I thought, but Ty sent me to seek you out to make sure you didn't leave the base. He wants you to stay close to him."  
  
"So I'm just supposed to sit around and wait here at the base. Isn't that considered a waste of resources? I could be out-"  
  
"Donovan," Eden cut him off, "Those are your orders."  
  
Donovan let out a long breath and relaxed his shoulders in resignation. Turning his bike around he headed back into the compound.  
  
Eden watched his movements carefully. Maybe it was just the mission getting to him. But Eden knew that is was more than likely that all this was because he had been sent on his first mission too soon. The Triumvirate had been too eager to use him and Eden feared that her carefully planned training of Donovan would slowly unravel if they didn't get him back to Gillette now.  
  
*****  
  
Raven left the room with a sick feeling in her gut. They hated her even more than she had anticipated. Though they had the right to considering what she had done. In fact she expected no less from Max, considering what she thought she had seen Raven do in the alley. But the look on Zack's face, she couldn't stand to see him so disappointed.  
  
She began to wonder if they would listen to her when the time came, because if they didn't this last minute plan of hers would fall through and she will have condemned them to a life in Manticore.  
  
Regardless, there was no time to waste. Within the minute she was knocking gently on the surveillance room door.  
  
"Hello?" she called quietly. She waited for a moment, focusing her hearing to what lay behind the door. There was no movement, only the dull hum of several television monitors. After a quick look down the hall, she silently slid into the room. Her hearing had not failed her, the room was void of life and the only thing to light the room was the grey glow of the screens. There were four monitors dedicated to the prisoners, the rest seemed to be dispersed on the base in the typical manner. She studied the scenes captured by the cameras and plotted out the possible points on the base that remained unmonitored. By the looks of things they seemed few and far between. But she did not give hope. Surely the General who had previous control of this base would have had his personal quarters off limits to prying eyes.  
  
As silently as she had entered the room, she left it, leaving everything as it was. Mere minutes later she entered the private quarters of the General and ducked into his bathroom. Out of habit, she turned on the shower, before she pulled out a cell phone.  
  
*****  
  
Logan knew he was safe. The X6 thought him dead and they had their quarry. There would be no need for them to return. But it wasn't the thought of the X6 returning that haunted him as he walked around his apartment. The crunch of shattered glass underfoot from his skylight was easy to ignore because his thoughts were elsewhere. Like every other moment of his life since he had met her, his thoughts were on Max.  
  
He sat at his computer trying to access anything that had anything to do with Manticore. It was a frustrating task, even with his skill. If not a faulty path, then a firewall. If not a firewall, then a security check with an encryption code that he would have no hope of breaking with his current programs. After three hours it seemed beyond hopeless and yet he continued.  
  
Maybe it was because he was distracted by another question. Why was he still alive? When he heard Raven speak of being relieved to return to Manticore and her family, he had thought for sure that she truly was a traitor. A suspicion he had always held onto ever since he had first seen her in his apartment.  
  
The last phrase she spoke to him ran circles through his brain. 'You don't know the half of it.'  
  
'Then tell me the other half!' he wanted to scream. What did she mean? She had left him alive for what? Was there something he was supposed to be doing right now?  
  
With eerily good timing the phone rang. It did not have the chance to finish its first ring before Logan had the receiver to his ear.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
The voice on the other line was steady and concise. "Stop trying to hack into the system."  
  
"What?"  
  
"If they detect you it will be over for all of us."  
  
"Who is this?" he asked though he already knew the answer.  
  
The voice on the other line paid him no attention. "You have three hours to pack up clothes and rations to last you over a month. Bring your hard drive with you, if they return it will be the first thing they will sift through. Head north on the I 90."  
  
"But the city lockdown…"  
  
Raven sounded annoyed, "I will inform the checkpoints along your route to give clearance to a civilian James Greyson. I know you already have a fake ID with that alias. When you reach city limits continue until you get to marker 44. Another mile down there will be a run down rest area. Park on your right as close to the forest edge as possible. If Max and Zack aren't there by an hour after nightfall it means I have failed. Stay out of Seattle for at least a month, your apartment should be safe by then."  
  
"What about you? Will you be with them?"  
  
"Don't concern yourself with what I do. I'm with my family now."  
  
Logan was not given a chance to speak as he heard the dull click of the line disconnecting. 


	39. Moment of Truth

[author's note: i wrote an especially long chapter to make up for the last month and a half ]  
[also this chapter may seem a little rough because it is so long i thought it would be more important ]  
[to get it out there instead of taking another week proofing it. i hope you all don't mind.]   
[and just to refresh your minds here is a summary of what has happened so far.]  
What's going on? Max and Zack are still locked up in the Seattle Manticore base with Ty, Eden, Fox, Quince, Donovan and Raven still on the compound. The other X6 are still sweeping the city searching for any other X5 that may be hiding within the city limits. Max is furious because she thinks Raven has killed Logan and Zack is heartbroken because he thinks Raven has betrayed them. Raven has been putting up a front that she is still a loyal X6 but everyone is having their doubts. Logan recieved a phone call from Raven, and is given instructions to follow. and so the story continues...  
  
------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
The night was fast approaching, Raven could feel it in her bones and smell it in the air, probably some unexpected benefit from the nocturnal creatures in her cocktail. She breathed in deeply as the wind blew into her face and through the few loose strands of her midnight hair. For the first time in a long while Raven tied her hair tightly back into a ponytail. It felt strange.  
  
From her perch on the roof she stared out over the forest that surrounded the base. Her mind was pulled back into memories as she watched the dusk approach over the tips of the trees. Mock missions, hunter-prey games, back then the world was their playground. It wasn't until she realized that the world had more to offer than targets and objectives that her views changed.  
  
But her family was still content to follow orders and live lives directed by someone else. Having been there before she knew they weren't aware they had a choice. Closing her eyes she breathed deeply once more.  
  
She couldn't just leave her family behind. Even if that meant being subjected to whatever indoctrination processes were necessary for Manticore to believe she had returned to the fold. Raven was no fool. If Mathews had any doubts about her, they would wipe her mind clean once she stepped foot on Manticore soil and repeat the process every time they deemed it necessary.  
  
But she would be with her family. Wasn't that all that mattered? Raven just wished she felt as confident in her thoughts as she had sounded in her words when she told Logan she was with her family now.  
  
Inhale. Exhale.  
  
Accepting her fate, Raven just hoped some small part of her, no matter how deep, would remember.  
  
*****  
  
An idle mind is the devil's playground. But Satan himself dare not tread the chaos that was Donovan's psyche.  
  
He had wanted to get out and help the others expressly to focus his mind on things other than the two prisoners who were kept only four hallways away.  
  
Now with nothing else to distract him, his mind began to wander, despite his efforts. Surprisingly, the pains that he usually associated with the images of Max and Zack were absent. Flashes of memories linked themselves together into a strange movie that ran through his mind. He was alone in the dark with sounds of a struggle coming from the next room. Images of Zack. Being wrapped in something warm and dark, a leather jacket. Images of Max. The apartment in Seattle. Images of Logan. A battle… and then things got hazy.  
  
Donovan almost gave himself a headache trying the piece together his twisted puzzle. None of it made sense. And what did they have to do with the woman he had killed in the forest. Closing his eyes he willingly remembered that strange memory he had on the helicopter. His wrists and ankles were chained and beside him the woman was also bound. She seemed concerned for him. The look in her eyes was warm and gentle, with a hint of sadness. A far cry from the mud stained woman with the blood on her cheek that he had hunted through the forest.  
  
His eyes flew open, he was so enraptured with the haunting image that Donovan hadn't even noticed his heart was racing. He could feel the blood course through his veins. None of this made sense! Manticore was his world. Everything else didn't matter. Everything else shouldn't matter.  
  
Suddenly it seemed that the walls were closing in on him, the stale air was like sandpaper on his already dry throat and a cold sweat developed on his brow. He needed some fresh air.  
  
*****  
  
In the helicopter Lydecker watched as the light slowly died. All the while he held his head high. There was no point in struggling against this fate. What would he do anyway? Jump from the helicopter? No. There was only one destination at the end of this journey. And he had known that since the day he accepted his position at Manticore.  
  
Maybe what bothered him most about Mathews was the fact that once, not so long ago, Lydecker was exactly the same way. The doctors and geneticists weren't human; they were think tanks that produced the genetic material. The mothers weren't human; they were incubation pods within which soldiers grew. And especially the X series weren't human; they were small animals that would be molded to fight America's wars.  
  
After all these years it took something like Stage Three, for Lydecker to realize it was people like him and Mathews who weren't human. All these years he had been deceived. The dream that had taken on as his own and still believed in this day, was now warped and twisted beyond recognition. He thought of his past and wanted to wretch, but now was not the time. Instead he held his head high.  
  
Leaving Manticore to try and save his children was a decision he would never regret. The only thing he did regret, was the fact that he had failed.  
  
Ironically, he silently prayed that the people he had been hunting for nine years would find a way to escape.  
  
*****  
  
Ty sat at the command center, listening to his siblings' conversations as they scoured the city for more X5. Every once in a while he would interject, guiding his soldiers to what he believed to be a more efficient search.  
  
"How goes the search?" Raven said as she stepped out from the shadows.  
  
Ty was surprised to see her so soon since their last encounter, but he hid it well. "It continues. Do you know of there being any other X5 in the city?"  
  
"I would not be surprised." Raven paused. "Yesterday I did overhear that Zack had sent for someone and that she was on her way though I have no idea if he was referring to an X5 or not. Either way, I'm sure this friend of his would be within the city limits by now." She paused again. "You should send the others to help with the search effort. They are wasting their time here when we could use them out in the city."  
  
Ty regarded her carefully. "They have their orders to remain at the base."  
  
"We need this done efficiently…"  
  
"This is my mission Raven, and I was given orders to keep them here, at the base," he drew the last three words out slowly, deliberately.  
  
"I see," she withdrew her suggestions.  
  
The almost endless military chatter of those out in the field thankfully filled the silence that crept between them.  
  
It took a few minutes for Raven to break that silence. "So I saw Donovan."  
  
"Did you?"  
  
"From a distance. He seems impressive enough. Was his training difficult?" Raven probed.  
  
"No. Eden easily integrated him into the X6. He trained with her first and after only a week Donovan was soon skilled enough to run through practice missions with us."  
  
"I only wish I had been there to help with the molding process. That could have been an interesting endeavor."  
  
"The Triumvirate had thought of some clever methods."  
  
"Yes, I read they let him hunt down and kill his own mother."  
  
"Intrigues the mind. Eden did so well, that even the scent of his mother did not break his training. Cleverly enough the scent bond between mother and child was what allowed him to track her so easily through the forest."  
  
"Clever."  
  
'And perverse' she wanted to add, but she held back the words. "So I'm assuming he will be a major asset to our team."  
  
"That he will."  
  
"How is he with weapons?"  
  
"Same level as Wolf at the least."  
  
Raven nodded, impressed, "Recon?"  
  
"Highly observant, can remember fine, indiscriminant details. Like combining Lenk's memory with Ajax's attention to detail."  
  
"Hand to hand?"  
  
"That is his strongest point. His genetics and musculo-skeletal structure make him stronger, faster and more agile than any of us." He turned his head to look Raven deliberately straight in the eye. "Even you wouldn't stand a chance."  
  
His voice was almost a warning had he not softened it with a smile, "We better keep on his good side sis, he could put us both in our places."  
  
"Everyone has some weakness."  
  
"That's what I thought until I tried sparring with him. Did you know they are even using his genome as a base for the new X9?" Ty turned back to the computer screen where he had pulled up miscellaneous windows probably pertaining to some future mission.  
  
"Really? I'm surprised. By doing that Manticore is admitting that nature had done a better job with genetics than all their years of research."  
  
"Either way Manticore would have created the perfect soldier eventually."  
  
"If he is what Manticore considers perfect, does that mean we are now defective?"  
  
"It just means we will be improved upon."  
  
Again a silence swept the room after the chilling implications of that last sentence Ty spoke. Quietly she withdrew toward the door. "I'm going to take a walk around the base."  
  
Ty gave no indication that he had heard what she said, but Raven knew that he did.  
  
*****  
  
"Right…" Ty whispered to himself when he could no longer hear Raven's footsteps in the hall. Inputting a quick command into the computer, Ty opened a secure line. "Quince. Fox. Are you at your positions?"  
  
*****  
  
"Ah…" Quince answered his head set uneasily. "No."  
  
Sitting on the other side of the table in the mess hall, Fox shook his head. When on assignment Quince could construct and maintain a web of deception without even needing to think, yet when it came to his superiors he refused to tell a lie. Fox stood, knowing what order would come next.  
  
*****  
  
"I want you at your posts now. She is on the move. I want to know where she is at all times."  
  
Ty would have given more covert commands had he known that Raven still stood just around the corner, well within earshot.  
  
So they didn't trust her. Raven was left to wonder if the orders came from higher up, or if it was Ty who held the suspicions.  
  
But she dared not dwell on her thoughts. If Fox and Quince were not currently monitoring her this was the opportunity she had been waiting for. She reached into her pocket and wrapped a hand around the keys so they would not clink together as she raced down to the brig.  
  
*****  
  
Bags were thrown haphazardly into the back of his Aztec. The only thing Logan bothered to handle with care was his hard drive and a few other disks. But they were still bumped around a bit as Logan drove through the Seattle streets in their constant state of disrepair.   
  
The first few gates were no problem. But the last gate before the Seattle city limits was crowded with military personnel. Through the gates he saw two teenaged girls, dressed in black, talking to a few of the officers. They were all business, arms crossed with hardened looks that betrayed years of military experience. Those must have been more X6. Logan's first instinct was to duck, to hide until they had passed. But they didn't know what he looked like, so he didn't have anything to worry about. He would have liked to believe that but his pounding heart told him otherwise.  
  
The sector police flagged him down and Logan opened his window.  
  
"Sorry sir, the city is in lock down. You're gonna have to turn your car around and head back home."  
  
"My name is Greyson. I have clearance to pass," Logan handed him the fake ID, trying his best to keep his hand steady and keep his voice even and confident. But he kept his eyes on the pair of X6.  
  
"Uh…" The man hesitated looking at the ID. "Only military passes."  
  
"Are you kept up to date Officer…" Logan searched the man's badge for a name, "Peterson? Because I just made my way through six other checkpoints without any troubles."  
  
"I… just… Hold on." Peterson left with the ID in hand and walked over to another one of his colleagues.  
  
Left alone Logan eyed the X6 again. The city must be crawling with them. That thought alone filled him with unease.  
  
*****  
  
Max saw Zack perk up to attention and was about to ask what was the matter when Raven burst into the room. With pure battle instinct Max leapt to her feet, though it would do her little good as she was still securely bound.  
  
"What do you want with us now? Time for transport?" she growled, nothing could dull her anger.  
  
"We don't have much time." Raven pulled out the keys and unlocked Zack's cell first. She then reached down to her ankle and pulled out a hunter's knife and hastily cut away the plastic ties. Zack looked at her, perplexed by her actions, as he rubbed his sore wrists trying to get some feeling back into his hands.  
  
"They will be coming soon, we may have to fight." Raven warned as she opened Max's cell. "Donovan will be the strongest…" She had just finished cutting free Max's hands when Max's fist made direct contact with her jaw. The force of the blow was so great it sent a surprised Raven to the floor. Her lip split and bleeding.  
  
*****  
  
The guard soon returned to interrupt Logan's thoughts. "Sorry Mr. Greyson. You can move right on through."  
  
A loud horn sounded as the gate slowly opened. That and the flashing lights ensured that everyone noticed his car passing through the checkpoint. Including the X6.  
  
They both turned their heads and stared him down. Logan did his best to avoid looking in their direction as he waited for the gate to open enough for the Aztek to squeeze through. Out of the corner of his eyes Logan saw them exchange a few words between themselves.  
  
"Come on, come on…" he urged the gate to open faster.  
  
The closer of the X6 was now walking toward him, and his heart beat faster still. Logan kept looking to the side to watch her progress and there was no mistake, she was headed straight for him. His mind was already racing, thinking of what he would say or do should she start to question him.  
  
She was no more than ten meters away when she stopped abruptly and pressed her fingers to her ear, apparently receiving some sort of message in her earpiece. Much to Logan's relief, the X6 took her piercing gaze off him. Standing there she looked like she was speaking to herself. After ending the conversation she turned to look over her shoulder and her sister nodded back. Throwing Logan one last fierce look, the X6 returned to her sibling with a brisk pace. Once more, words were exchanged.  
  
That could only mean that something was happening at the base. Logan only wished he could have been more involved in whatever Raven was planning, but by the looks of it, she wasn't planning anything secretive.  
  
It was then that the gates finally opened and the guards waved him through. Just as he passed the gates he was cut off by the two X6 on their motorcycles. They sped away without giving him another glance.  
  
*****  
  
" 'Crush their hopes and you will have their minds.'" Max quoted from one of the many lessons that had plagued her dreams ever since they had escaped. "If this is some sick game of catch and release…"  
  
"You'll just have to trust that it isn't," Raven stood, wiping the blood away with the back of her hand, wary of another attack.  
  
"Trust!?" Max scoffed, her eyes a fire.  
  
Zack stepped in front of Max, stopping her advance, "Let her speak."  
  
"Zack!? You don't honestly believe-"  
  
"What other choice to we have?"  
  
Raven stopped and signaled for them to be quiet as she rolled up her left sleeve. Her sensitive ears had easily picked up the tiny whirring sounds of the motors that focused the cameras that were watching them.  
  
*****  
  
"Ty. Raven has freed the X5," Fox reported. Both he and Quince were already sprinting down to intercept them.  
  
"I figured as much, I'm already on my way. Eden, Donovan, all X6 converge on the prisoners, no one will leave this base."  
  
"Yes sir." Fox and Quince added their voices to the tangle of responses.  
  
*****  
  
"They know now. They will be coming soon…" Raven reached into her pocket and pulled out the last syringe of Dr. Munrow's serum.   
  
Zack tried to reach for the needle, "What are you doing? Didn't you see what that stuff did to me?" Despite himself a strange hunger for the liquid began to brew in his belly. His body, his muscles, his veins would never forget the utter ecstasy that the injections had drawn him into.  
  
"It made you stronger and faster," she retreated from his outstretched hand and plunged the needle into her vein. In an instant she understood how Zack had become so easily addicted. Raven closed her eyes and inhaled sharply as the fluid raced through her bloodstream. She had never felt anything like this before. Every part of her was tingling with power. It felt like her heart was slowing, but in reality it was beating so violently that Max and Zack could hear it in her chest. "Like I said Donovan will be the strongest," Raven spoke when she finally found her breath.  
  
"I'd like to think I would at least pose a challenge." They were all startled by Ty's voice and they froze when they saw the two guns, one was trained on Raven, the other on Max. Behind him Fox and Quince quickly took their positions and aimed their guns at Raven and Zack.  
  
"I suggest you step back into your cells." Ty stood with a cold, uncaring look in his eyes.  
  
"Get out of my way."  
  
"You know I can't do that Raven," Ty shook his head, pity in his eyes, "I will not stand by and watch you self destruct."  
  
Before he even finished his sentence Raven seemed to disappear into a hazy blur. Ty felt the guns being ripped from his hands before his mind had the time to comprehend what was happening. Raven didn't have the capabilities to move that quickly. It was like a snake's strike. He had only seen speed like that in one person, and he wasn't an X6.  
  
Fox tried to pull back but his weapon was also stripped from his hands. Quince was able to get a shot off into the blur that was Raven, but it was a shot in the dark, coming nowhere near to injuring her. There was little he could do to hold onto his gun.  
  
Almost instantly she was standing in front of them again, aiming a gun back at them while handing two to Zack knowing Max's views on the weapon. She adjusted her grip on the fourth weapon, and soon that was also aimed at her siblings.  
  
"How?" Rarely was Ty was confused, and under different circumstances Raven would have been amused with the bewildered look in his normally stony eyes. But the expression quickly faded and he smiled confidently once more. "You won't shoot us."  
  
"Don't temp me."  
  
"I don't know what made you faster but it seems if you had wanted us dead, we would be."  
  
Raven tried to hide the inner turmoil. Ty knew her too well. Of course she didn't want to hurt them, but she needed to get Max and Zack out of here. Despite the feeling of dread that crept around the edges of her mind, she knew in the end she would do whatever was necessary to set things right, to make everything as it had been before. It was just a question of making that first move.  
  
Raven studied her brother, trying to formulate some course of action that would lead to the least amount of physical damage. Ty looked like he had plans of his own.  
  
*****  
  
In his ear, Ty could hear the rest of his siblings, each pair reporting their E.T.A. They were all currently converging on the base, a scant few minutes away.  
  
"This is Wolf and Lenk, we are two minutes from the base."  
  
"Ajax and Gira here, e.t.a. three and a half minutes."  
  
"Shorn and Mar, no more than one minute"  
  
"This is Neve, give me and Scrip five minutes."  
  
Eden's voice was most urgent, "Donovan is not in his room but I think I know where he will be. Delay them if you can."  
  
*****  
  
He looked over Raven's shoulder to Zack. "Your real son will be coming soon."  
  
Zack's breath deepened and his heartbeat jumped at the mention of Cole.  
  
"He did well on his first mission. Oh wait. You saw first hand what your son is capable of didn't you?"  
  
"Ty…" Raven's voice was a cautious warning. What was her brother up to?  
  
Zack gripped his gun harder. With Ty's words Alyssa's death flooded Zack's vision like some surreal movie. There was no warning when the glass shattered behind her. All he could do was catch her limp body before she fell to the floor. The smell of death flooded his nostrils, the slick blood ran down his arms and soaked his clothing. The pain of losing such a trusted ally, a true friend, after all that had already happened had almost been too much for Zack to handle. Then, just when he thought had reached the bottom of despair, he looked up at her assassin… and it was his own son.  
  
Max sent fleeting glances Zack's way, reluctant to take her eyes off the X6 for more than a second, for a second was all the X6 needed. Even then Max could see Zack's jaw muscles clenching in anger.  
  
He no longer cared that these X6 were made from his genetic code. He fully detached himself from the idea that these X6 were somehow a part of him because of the shared genes. All he knew was that it was them who had warped and twisted Cole's mind.  
  
"You should be proud, Zack, your son is an excellent soldier."  
  
Zack's eyes narrowed with hatred.  
  
Ty's half smile reminded Raven of some feral animal teasing its prey, "A natural born killer."  
  
Raven should have realized what was going on the moment Ty mentioned Donovan.  
  
When she turned her head she saw Zack's finger pulling the trigger without hesitation. There was no time to think about what events might follow, the instinct to protect her own family overrode any other movement she might have made.  
  
"Zack, NO!" she yelled as she tried to hit the gun out of his hand. But his grip was too firm and she had little affect as he fired the weapon. Her mistake was not that she was too late in her reaction but that she had turned her attentions away from her siblings.  
  
Ty had been counting on Raven to react this way and he took the opportunity to rush Raven with a swift kick to the back of her head that sent her to the floor. Fox and Quince took Ty's cue and attacked Max and Zack.  
  
Fox tested Max's reactions, dropping on one hand and kicked one leg out trying to trip her up. Max easily jumped over the threat, but realized her error when his other leg shot up at her face. Thanks to Doctor Munrow's treatment Max was fast enough to deflect Fox's attack.  
  
The fact that his strike was blocked surprised Fox. He had fought the other X5 and they could never adjust themselves quickly enough while in the air to stop this assault. Fox raised his arm just in time to block Max's fast approaching fist, but he was unable to react to the knee to his side. Max came at him with an assault of kicks and punches, only half of which he could dodge or block. When a small window finally opened Fox punched Max across the jaw and push kicked her away from him, making some room to compose himself. Maybe this fight wouldn't be as easy as he thought.  
  
No more than ten feet away Quince was doing his best to dodge the barrage of bullets Zack sent his way. Two grazed his side and he could feel the heat of the third as it bore into the flesh of his arm, but he would not let that slow him. His healing was accelerated even for an X6. Soon Zack was within striking distance and Quince was able to strike him across the jaw with his elbow. With Zack momentarily fazed Quince quickly relieved the now empty weapons from his hands. In barely enough time, Zack was able to throw up his arms to block the butt of a gun from cracking open his skull.  
  
Around her, Max and Zack were fighting for their lives, but Raven barely noticed. She was hunched over, her breath ragged. The stars were just starting to dissipate from her eyes and when her vision finally cleared she saw Ty standing over for her, fists at the ready. It was a thinning sense of respect that kept him from hitting her while she was still down. It was this same respect that stayed his hand from picking up the weapons she had dropped and turning them on her again.  
  
"One day you will understand," she said quietly, her voice full of sadness, as she leapt at her brother.  
  
Ty blocked her first advances, grabbing her hand and kicking at her knee, hoping to hyperextend the joint and disable her. But she knew what he had planned and jumped out of the way, leaping over his head. When he turned to face her again Raven thrust the palm of her hand into his solar plexus. The force knocked the wind out of him and her sheer strength sent him clear across the room. His head hit against the wall and she feared for a moment that she might have seriously injured him, until she saw him prop himself up on one knee and try to shake the grogginess that was no doubt filling his head. Having dispensed with her brother so quickly, she moved to help the others.  
  
Raven grabbed Fox's forearm as he aimed an uppercut to Max's chin. With a quick shove she pushed Fox toppling back into one of the cells. Next Raven sprinted to where Quince and Zack were fighting. When she stepped between it took all of Zack's strength to stop his foot, which was intended for Quince's cheekbone.  
  
Raven threw Quince into Fox who was just standing up, and they both fell to the ground of the cell. Max did the honors and closed the cell door, locking the two in.  
  
"We have to go. Now!" Raven ordered, but both Zack and Max were already ahead of her, sprinting down the hallway as fast as their legs could carry them. Raven slowed her pace to make sure she brought up the rear.  
  
*****  
  
"Eden," Ty's voice was forced and through her earpiece Eden could hear him laboring to breath, "They are headed north in the western hall. Head them off."  
  
She looked up into Donovan's pale eyes as he ran beside her. "We are on our way."  
  
*****  
  
While they ran, Raven gave them their instructions. "Once outside, head north east for one mile, and then east for five miles. Logan will be waiting for you in the parking lot of an old rest area." They all stopped and waited anxiously, their full wits about them, as Raven punched the daily code into the door keypad. "Ty will most likely assume you are headed for the road just west of this base so you should have no more troubles after that, but it would be safest if you get off the major highway systems."  
  
There was a loud buzzer sound, and Raven pulled at the handle, opening the door and ushering Max and Zack ahead of her. Once through, Raven made sure to pull the door shut after her.  
  
"What about the scent trail? It was how you found us last time," Max asked over her shoulder as they fell back into a sprint. There were windows on one side of the hall, that peered out over the forest. As they ran past, they could see the last sliver of sun retreating below the horizon. It was like watching a movie when the film was moving too slow.   
  
"I'll keep them off your trail long enough for the scent to dissipate beyond our capabilities of tracking."  
  
"But you are coming with us aren't you?" Zack did not hide his apprehension. He didn't like how Raven kept taking in terms of 'you and me' rather than 'us' or 'we'.  
  
The question hung in the air, and even if she had wanted to answer, Raven wasn't given the opportunity. Up ahead they saw Eden turn the corner and block their path. They didn't bother to slow when they realized the odds were in their favor.  
  
But they all came to a jarring halt when they saw who rounded the corner just behind Eden.  
  
Donovan.  
  
*****  
  
Ty was soon on his unsteady feet, and pulling keys from his pocket.  
  
His brothers gripped the bars of their prison, their knuckles white with impatience.  
  
Ty blinked hard a few times, as he searched through the keys on the ring, but the blurriness would not leave his eyes enough for him to tell one key from another.  
  
"Here," he said, finally giving up and tossing them all to his brother, "Find it yourself."  
  
Fox took the keys with no argument, and Ty sprinted down the halls after Raven.  
  
*****  
  
Raven stepped between Max and Zack to stand at the head of their formation. She raised her fists and relaxed her muscles to prepare for a fight she knew was pivotal to the escape. This was the sole reason she had injected the drug in her veins.  
  
Despite the odds being relatively even, there was a hesitation. Was it because they did not want to hurt Cole? Or was it because they did not want to be killed by Donovan?  
  
"Raven, this is your chance to turn around and return to Manticore peacefully. You know that all three of you are no match for Donovan."  
  
"Cole. Come with us," Zack pleaded with his son, hoping beyond hope that deep within the soldier named Donovan, his son Cole would hear. "You know you don't belong here." He tried to step toward Cole, but Raven held him back.  
  
Donovan paid him no attention, focusing his eyes on Raven instead. She could see he was intentionally blocking out anything to do with Zack and Max. He wouldn't even send fleeting glances their way. For a moment she though she saw him flinch at the sound of his father's voice. But it was probably just a trick of the dying light.  
  
Eden also ignored what she deemed Zack's pathetic attempts to undermine the Donovan she had created. "Raven, there is no hope. Donovan is here and Wolf and all the others will be here in a matter of seconds. You will lose."  
  
Behind them a loud buzzer sounded. Max looked back down the hall to see Ty stepping through the security door that they had just passed through.  
  
"I'm getting them off this base, Eden."  
  
"Sorry to hear that." Eden shook her head, upset her sister was choosing the most difficult course of action.  
  
Raven's eyes narrowed. "Well come on then," she said, beckoning Donovan to attack.  
  
And attack he did. When they had first met, Raven was fighting an inexperienced toddler, and even then he was quicker than anything she had ever seen before in her life. Ty and herself had barely been able to handle him. But now his skills were honed by weeks of training at Manticore, and he had the discipline and precision of a soldier through which he could focus his natural assets. Donovan hit her with a quick jab to the chin, and followed up with a kick to the side of the head. Before he could put his foot down again, he leapt up in the air, and got a solid kick with his other foot that sent Raven into the wall.  
  
While this was taking place Max was busy engaging Eden, just as Ty caught up to Zack.  
  
Eden punched and Max dodged to the right. She was then able to stop Eden's second attempt and kicked her in the gut. While Eden was keeled over Max took her elbow to the other's back. Instead of falling to the ground Eden put her hands down and sprang off them kicking her legs up and wrapping them around Max's neck. Now sitting on Max's shoulders, Eden was able to get a few quick punches in before Max threw her off.  
  
Zack, unfortunately was having much difficulties with Ty. It was like fighting him that first day when he refused to listen to Max and had gone rushing in to confront Lydecker. Fists and feet seemed to be coming from all directions and Zack had barely enough time to block or dodge, let alone get in his own attacks. It was the few solid contacts he was able to get in that gave Zack a sense of hope, and urged him to fight on.  
  
Donovan stood in the hallway looking at the fight around him. He watched Zack and Ty fight as sickening sense of déjà vu came over him. He was about to intervene and help Eden when Raven rose to challenge him again. She elbowed him across the cheek and swept her foot up and brought her heel crashing down on Donovan's shoulder. He could feel the joint almost dislocate with the force. He saw the surprise in her eyes when the blow did not even come close to bringing him to his knees. But Raven was never one to give up, she attacked him with all she had, which was still just under his true capabilities. She almost felt he was humoring her as he easily blocked ninety percent of her attempts.  
  
But every deflection Donovan made was merely reflex as his mind was on other things. The hallway began to flash with strange images, twisting and morphing as though the walls were made of liquid. He closed his eyes for a split second to try and stave off the dizzying feeling and when he opened them again the hallway had transformed into small room. The smell of pizza drifted in through the open door. Here, too, he was fighting Raven and Zack was battling with Ty, Eden was nowhere to be found but Max was over on the other side, on the ground.  
  
This flashback was different from all the others, it wasn't just a snippet of information, or a flash of image or even a movie running through his mind's eye. He had caught a quick glimpse of this scene before when he had been running from Zack, after he had killed his target. However this time it was almost like a dream that had wrapped itself around him. Every detail was so clear, his mind was so sure, there was no way this could have just been a dream. There was no more denying that this was a true memory.  
  
Something was nagging at him… He was here fighting for a reason, what was it? Wait, yes, a mother. He had a mother. He was here because he wanted to help her. She had run off and left him in the car but he knew she was in danger and had followed after her. Where was she? Where was his mother? She was supposed to be here. He was trying to be a good little boy and save her.  
  
Donovan looked frantically around the room while still fighting off Raven. Finally he saw a crumpled body on the ground leaning against the wall. It was her, it had to be her. His heart skipped a beat of relief. He didn't even need to see her face for his whole body knew that that was who he was here to save.  
  
But when she lifted her head to look at him, his eyes widened with disbelief. Kat. It was the woman he had slain with his own bare hands. It was the woman he had stalked through the forest, whose fear he had drank up before he took her life…  
  
It was the gentle woman in the helicopter.  
  
In that instant, with that realization, everything came crashing together. The barrier that Eden and Manticore had carefully constructed came crashing down. The life he knew before Manticore all fell into place, the memories liberating themselves so he would know the truth.  
  
But the truth was too much for him to bear. He was Kat's son. He was Zack's son. He was Cole. He was a monster.  
  
The memory dissolved from the present, and he was in he hallway once more, Raven still attacking him with all her strength. It took a moment for him to understand his current situation knowing what he now did. "Wait!" He held his right hand out in a show of submission, but Raven wasn't expecting such an action and took it for an attack. She grabbed his wrist and swung her right leg up to hit his cheek. Still holding his arm so he could not move out of the way, she stopped her foot midair and brought it back to hit him on the other side of his face. The well-placed hit split Cole's lip and sent him stumbling back onto the ground.  
  
Raven stood over him, breathing deeply to try and get oxygen back into her body. She was just about to make sure he stayed down when she saw the look in his eyes. It was fear, but it was more than that. It was pain. Not physical pain but a sort of mental anguish.  
  
"I killed her…" he whispered under his breath. He touched his lip with his fingertips and pulled it away. Seeing his own blood for the first time. It reminded him of the time he had wiped the blood from his mother's cheek right before… "I killed her…".  
  
"Cole?" Raven asked tentatively.  
  
His vision became blurry from the tears that brimmed in his eyes. He remembered his mother's sweet voice calling out his name. He looked past Raven to see Max and Zack. Cole couldn't face them, especially not Zack. Not after what he had done.  
  
Cole pulled a gun from the small of his back and looked at it in his hand. A small token of Manticore.  
  
"Cole what are you doing?" Raven asked, fearful that Cole might turn the gun on himself.  
  
But instead Cole aimed at the window beside him. He let loose three bullets to break the glass and dropped the gun to the ground.  
  
The sound of gunfire caught everyone's attention, stopping the fighting long enough for everyone to see what Cole/Donovan was doing.  
  
"Cole!" Raven yelled out once more in a futile effort to try and communicate with Zack's son.  
  
Two strides and he leapt through the window leading with his elbows to fully shatter the glass. Zack sprinted after him too late. He leaned out of the window resting his hands on the shards of glass as he tried to see where his son had landed. The pain of the glass cutting into his palms did not concern him, only that his son was safe. Zack smiled for the first time in weeks. His son was free.  
  
*****  
  
Ty was about take a cheap blow to Zack's back when Raven stopped her brother. "Enough." She manhandled her brother, hitting him to the bass of his skull, knocking him out for at least a minute or two. Once more he got between Max and her opponent kicking Eden into the wall.  
  
"Go!" she yelled to the X5. Max did not have to be told twice as she ran further up the hallway.   
  
"Now!" Raven had to shove Zack away from his stance at the window. And after a few reluctant strides, Zack fell back into pace and started running after Max.  
  
Behind them the loud buzzer sounded once more signaling the opening of the security door. Raven looked over her shoulder to see Lenk and Shorn and the others stream through the door. Fox and Quince were also with them. There were at least ten of them and Raven knew there was no hope of beating those odds. If they were to fight they would lose.  
  
Zack and Max knew this as well and ran faster toward the next security door. Max reached the door first and Raven yelled out the code.  
  
"6 3 8 8 4."  
  
Max punched in the code and the buzzer sounded. She pulled the door open and ushered Zack through. But Zack pushed Max through and held the door himself, waiting for Raven to catch up.  
  
"Go!" Raven yelled angrily. What was he doing? He had no time to spare. When he thought she was close enough to make it through, Zack let go of the door and ran after Max.  
  
He looked over his shoulder to make sure Raven had in fact made it through but instead found her closing the door from the other side.  
  
"Raven?!"  
  
Max stopped and turned around at the sound of Zack's voice. Both she and Zack watched through the wired glass as Raven mouthed the words "I'm with my family now."  
  
"No! Raven!" He could only watch as she punched the keypad that controlled the locking mechanism And sparks went flying. On their side, they could see the keypad go dead. Over Raven's shoulder they watched as the X6 were closing in. She had locked herself in a cage full of tigers.   
  
Only a few seconds had passed until they were on her. Max ran back to where Zack stood and watched with him as the X6 beat down their rogue sister. Their numbers easily beat her strength and speed but she fought them off valiantly.  
  
Max was the first to notice as one of the X6 took out a gun and fired a small hole through the wireglass. The glass shattered but the embedded wire held it strong.  
  
"Zack, we have to go. If we stay this will all be for nothing." Max pulled at his arm.  
  
"But…"  
  
Zack had no to time to argue with her as the X6 shoved the tip of his gun through the small hole and started firing more accurate shots at them.  
  
Soon they found the exit and were sprinting through the forest, following the instructions Raven had given them. They didn't dare look back.  
  
*****  
  
Because of Raven's efforts they had lost the scent trail long ago. It took a gun shot wound to her gut and six of her siblings to hold her down long enough for the others to bind her wrists and ankles. When they lifted her up again she saw the expressions of joy and anger on each of their faces. Joy that she would be soon be returned to the fold and anger that she had left in the first place.  
  
One day, she hoped, they would understand what she was fighting for. They needed their freedom from Manticore, a chance to lead somewhat normal lives. And she would not abandon them until that goal was reached.  
  
*****  
  
Cole ran in no particular direction. He knew he would never be able to run away from what he did but he ran anyway. This was the kind of wound that time could not heal, and he would carry this guilt for the rest of his life. He stopped only once to look back. Maybe one day he would be able to face Zack and accept whatever punishment he deserved, but for now he had to wrestle with his thoughts alone.  
  
*****  
  
Just as Raven had said, Logan was waiting for them in his Aztec at the old rest stop. Max climbed into the front seat and threw her arms around Logan, relieved to see he was truly alive. And Logan was just as happy, if not more so, to see his love had made it out and had come back to him.  
  
Zack sat in the back happy to the point of ecstatic that his son had left Manticore even if it wasn't at his side. And though he was troubled by Raven's actions he knew what she had meant by her last mouthed sentence. She wouldn't abandon her family, just as he himself would never abandon his own. Her sacrifice had meant their freedom, and he would never forget what she had done for them.   
  
Soon they were off down the highway, racing away from Manticore. They didn't dare look back.  
  
  
  
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[author's note: so this is almost the end. i will be making an epilogue, but i will have to put that off for at least a couple weeks because of midterms. sorry :( But soon this freakishly long story will come to an end and i think this time everyone will be happy with the ending.] 


End file.
